The Courtship Of Bastila Shan
by The Raider
Summary: Darth Malak has been defeated, the Star Forge destroyed, and Bastila reedemed from the Dark Side. But what can come after you've already saved the galaxy once? Book One of a Three Book Trilogy. COMPLETE!
1. Awakening

Ok, I began writing this story before the _Revan _novel came out, so there will be some obvious differences. I'm working on trying to encorporate some elements of that book into the sequel to this story. I can only try my best.

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><p><strong>Prologue: <strong>

_Star Forge System A.K.A. Rakata Prime_

_Three Days After The Destruction Of The Star Forge_

The first thing she noticed was the complete silence around her. Opening her eyes, Bastila Shan wasn't surprised to find herself back on the _Ebon Hawk_. Had it all been a dream? Malak torturing her, Her pledging herself to him…trying to kill Revan? There were so many questions, and yet, there were so little answers popping out at her.

There was still pain in her right arm, proof that her duel with Revan had not been a figment of her imagination. Casting a glance upon it, she noticed that it been bandaged and cared for. To her, there was only one logical guess at who had cared for her wounds. And he was nowhere in sight. And above all, that frightened her.

_Revan?_ she said, reaching out through the bond that the two of them shared. At first, she was met with silence, which did nothing to reassure her. And then, out of the silence, an answer was born.

_Bastila?_ was his response, the words echoing through her mind at a feverous pace. Noticing the IV stuck into her arm, she realized why her head was throbbing. Her body had always reacted poorly to any kind of drug, even when she was a little girl. And, it appeared that she hadn't outgrown it.

_Revan, where…where am I?_ The question automatically was received with an answer from the opposite end.

_We're still in the Star Forge System. Don't get up, I'll be there in a minute._ He was true to his word, and soon she felt his presence in the room. There was no longer the Dark Side aura that had tainted their bond in their last meeting, a presence that she had been the cause of. No, a presence that _Malak_ had been the cause of.

From what she could see through her blurred vision, Revan hadn't been sleeping well recently. Dark circles surrounded his eyes, but the blue color in them shined through like the two suns of Tatooine. His words to her on the Star Forge returned to her mind, and echoed repeatedly, those words that had brought her back from the edge of darkness.

_I love you_

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

_Five Days After Destruction of the Star Forge_

Whatever treatment Bastila had received during the period that she had been unconscious had obviously worked to a great extent. Her arm was almost completely healed now, or at least to the point where there would most likely be no scaring. For that she was thankful, although the scars in her mind would always still be there. The scars from her torture at the hands of Malak.

Walking down the boarding ramp of the _Ebon Hawk_, she was greeted by another reminder of the battle. The beach around the ship was littered with wounded soldiers from the battle, wounded that Bastila knew she had caused. Her 'gift' of Battle Meditation was quickly starting to turn into a curse.

"Bastila, you weren't yourself. None of this is your fault." Revan said, stopping and laying a hand on her shoulder. She avoided looking him in the eyes, choosing instead to focus on her boots.

"Bastila, look at me." Raising her head, she met her silver eyes with Revan's. He truly meant what he had said, she could tell by the softness in his eyes. "None of this is your fault."

"But without my battle meditation…"

"We would have lost. And Malak would still be alive. It's_ not_ your fault." Bastila continued staring into Revan's eyes, the guilt inside her threatening to put her on the brink of an emotional breakdown.

"Revan, I…" She started before Revan took her into his arms. The two of them stood there, silently enveloped into each other's touch. Around them, the chaos of the battle's aftermath continued. As she placed her head against his shoulder, she felt all the anxiety rush out of her. Closing her eyes, she sighed. And let serenity wash over her.

"Oh, will you two just get a room?" Mission exclaimed, crossing her arms in front of her as she looked at Revan & Bastila clumsily disengaged themselves from one another. Feeling warmth in her cheeks, Bastila was sure that they were turning red. _Of all the times for Mission to show up…_

"We could always use yours Mission." Revan replied, his voice full of seriousness. Mission, her eyes aglow with fear, backed away slowly.

"Nevermind. Continue what you were doing!" she said, turning away and breaking into a full run back to the _Ebon Hawk_. Turning back to Bastila, Revan smiled.

"Now, where were we?" he asked, holding his arms open in front of him. Returning to his arms, Bastila closed her eyes once again, and again she let the sensation of peace wash over her.

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><p>Revan insisted that she continue to sleep, but yet she continually found sleep to be elusive. Although she had refused to tell Revan, the Dark Side still haunted her mind. It was all she would see at night. <em>He<em> was all she would see at night.

_"Rise my apprentice." He said, his voice sounding evil and artificial behind his metal jaw piece. As Bastila rose from her bended knee, Malak still towered over her. She dared to look into his eyes, those sickly yellow eyes surrounded by a rim of red. A color that her silver eyes were slowly turning into._

_"You have only tasted the true power of the Dark Side. You are strong indeed, but you lack _focus._" Malak stated, as he looked at his new apprentice. "There is hesitation in you."_

_"There is no hesitation, Master." Bastila replied, crossing her arms behind her back. She knew she couldn't hide anything from him. Not even the bond, which she had done her best to avoid using. Anything that kept Revan away from here..._

_"A master of deception you are not, Bastila. You fear confronting him, don't you? Fear being in his presence. Fear feeling his flesh on yours. Fear _loving_ him." As he finished his sentence, Bastila felt her heart drop to the bottom of her stomach. The one emotion that she had worked so hard to hide…_

_"I…no, Master. I could never…"_

_"Enough! Spare me your lies! Now get out of my sight." He spat back at her. She backed away, trying desperately to avoid what she knew must come next. _

_"Yes, Master." She said, trying to please him. He stared back at her, the anger in his eyes sending fear down her spine. Raising his hands, Malak laughed cruelly, obviously enjoying what was going to come next. As lightning erupted from his fingertips, Bastila screamed as it slammed into her body at full force._

"Bastila? Bastila, wake up!" Revan said as he gently shook her awake. Someone was screaming, and it took Bastila a few moments to realize that it was her own voice.

"Bastila, it's alright! It was just a dream!" He said again as Bastila collapsed into his arms, tears falling freely from her cheeks. Revan raised his hand to gently stroke her hair, which was no longer braided back into its usual two pig-tails.

"Revan…Malak...he …he…" she managed to say in between sobs. He silently held her, sending out feelings of security through their bond. He held her for what seemed like hours.

"Sssshhh, it's alright now. I'm here." He said in her ear as her sobs slowed and finally stopped. The room grew silent for what seemed like hours. As Revan rubbed his sleeve against her tear –stained cheeks, she looked back at him, unable to summon any words to break the silence between them. Looking back into her eyes, Revan slowly drew his face closer to hers until their lips met. She was surprised at first, but she returned it passionately, perhaps, even more passionately than Revan had. In that moment, nothing in the universe could have pulled them apart.

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><p>Well, there ya go. Remember to R&amp;R, it makes my day :)<p> 


	2. Revelations

**Chapter 2**

_Ten Days After Star Forge Destruction_

"Revan? Are you alright?" Bastila asked, noticing him standing alone looking out over one of the rocky cliffs that dotted the planet's landscape. He had been gone when she had awoke that morning, and he had failed to respond through their bond. And now, here he was, silent and alone.

"Yes. I'm fine." He responded, continuing to face away from her as he answered. Something was wrong, She could tell that much. "How's your arm?"

"Fine. It should be completely healed in a few more days." She answered, wondering why he had changed topics so quickly. _If he thinks he can hide something from me, it's a foolish idea. If there was something wrong, I'd would be the first to sense it. No matter what he thinks otherwise..._

"Don't change the topic Revan. Something's wrong, and I want to know."

"It's _nothing_." He said, this time turning to look at her. He hadn't been sleeping again, and it showed clearly in his expression. Seeing the look on her face, Revan sighed.

"I…I think more of my memories are returning." The statement seemed simple enough, if it had been any other person. But coming from Revan, this was serious. She came up to him, stopping a few inches in front of where he stood. If he had remembered something from his time as the Dark Lord, she wanted to be there for him.

"Of what?" she asked, reaching out to take his hand. He smiled faintly at the gesture, and squeezed her hand in return.

"The Mandalorian Wars. Me fighting Mandalore I guess." A few moments of silence passed between them, while the wind whipped around both of their bodies. _The Council said his memories would never fully return._ Bastila thought to herself as she continued looking at the man in front of her.

"Revan. It was a different time. You're different now."

"No, I'm not! Don't you see that?" He threw back at her, letting go of her hand and turning back to the cliff. Bastila could feel the rage circling through him, and she did her best to calm him through their bond. "I'm _still _Darth Revan! Even if I can't remember it,_ I_ still did it!"

"No, you're_ not._ Darth Revan died on the bridge of his command ship, after his apprentice Darth Malak fired upon it. Who you are now, you're a completely different person. Look at all the people you've gone out of your way to help! At how many lives you've saved, how many lives you've given back. I don't see a Sith Lord standing before me."

"Then what do you see?" he asked, turning back to look at her again.

"I see the savior of the galaxy. A Jedi Knight that renounced the Dark Side _by choice. _I see the man I fell in love with." She replied, coming up to him and embracing him in a kiss. Although taken aback, Revan returned it. As the wind whipped around her, Bastila felt a few shivers course down her body. Although her Jedi robes offered protection from many things, the cold wasn't one of them.

"You're shivering." Revan stated, pulling back from the kiss. Hiding away her surprise, Bastila stared back at him, slightly angry and yet, she understood his concern. He had become almost overprotective of her during the mission to find the Star Maps, and that overprotectiveness had not yet ceased.

"I'm fine." She echoed back to him, repeating the words that he had told her earlier.

"No you're not. You're cold."

"I'm fine. Really."

"Did anyone ever tell you that you're a terrible liar?" he asked, a smile rapidly overtaking his face.

"Did anyone ever tell you that you're a completely irritating man?"

"Yes. You. On a multiple occasions."

"Alright. You win!" Bastila finally said, throwing her arms up in a exaggerated sense of frustration. Smiling at her, Revan couldn't help but laugh. Months ago, this had been a common occurrence, and after Bastila's capture by Malak, he had missed this. And now, he felt happy beyond his wildest belief.

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><p>Returning to the <em>Ebon Hawk, <em>the two of them were quiet, hunkering against each other for protection against the cold. The ship itself lay empty now, except for the droids, the Mandalorian mercenary Canderous Ordo, and the Republican pilot Carth Onasi. Over the previous days, the crew had mostly gone their own ways. Jolee had chosen to retire to Manaan, Juhani had returned with the Republic fleet to Coruscant, and Zaalbar had returned to his tribe on Kashyyyk with Mission in pursuit. In part, all of them had been saddened to leave each other's company, but all of them knew it was for the best. They had saved the galaxy, and that had been worth it.

Walking quickly up the boarding ramp, Bastila felt relieved to know that someone had started the ship's heating systems. If they had been on Tatooine, she would have relished the cold, but now, she was happy to be warm. Outside, the faint dings of raindrops were heard landing on the _Ebon Hawk_'s hull. They had been lucky to get inside when they had. Otherwise, they would have easily been drenched by the pouring rain.

"Well, look who finally decided to show up." Canderous said, emerging from the shadows of the garage area. _Doesn't he ever sleep? _Bastila thought to herself, running her hands up and down her arms in an effort to warm them up faster. The Mandalorian was missing his ever present heavy rifle, and she knew that it would still be within reach if trouble arose.

"How's the ship Canderous?" Revan asked, stripping off his outer tunic and laying onto one of the lounge chairs that surrounded the main holo-deck.

"Fine as it will ever be. There isn't enough action on this planet to excite a Jawa." He replied, leaning his body against the wall. "I take it you and the Jedi Princess were having fun."

"I am _NOT_ a Princess, Mandalorian. If memory serves me right, we've already had this discussion."

"Have we now? Guess I forgot." As Bastila prepared a retort, Revan stopped her through the bond.

"Easy. We're friends here remember?" He said, stepping in-between the two of them. He had seen this argument before, and he knew exactly where it would end. Calming herself down, Bastila forced a slight smile from her lips. Canderous offered nothing but a laugh.

"Yeah. Hey listen, the Republic dog up front wanted to say something to you guys. He looked like he was in a hurry, so I wouldn't make him wait."

"Who? Carth?" Revan replied, letting out a groan, "What's wrong with him now? Did you beat him up too hard?" Canderous laughed at the statement, and slowly walked back towards his corner of the garage. He passed the shut-down shell of HK-47, who had been damaged during the battle on the Star Forge. Revan was still in the process of rebuilding him, although Bastila would have felt better if that monstrosity remained shut-down.

"You go and rest. I'll go see what's wrong with our courageous pilot." Revan said, giving her a peck on her cheek in the process.

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><p>Turning on the heat in her room, Bastila didn't even feel the urge to sleep. Chalking it up to Revan being over-protective again, she called a small holocron to her hands. It opened silently in her palm as she sat down on her bed. The holocron itself had been with her since Tatooine, it being the same holocron that her mother had insisted that she take with her.<p>

Staring at the small blue figures on it, she saw a small child of around five or six, tugging at her father's hair while her mother looked on. She smiled slightly at the scene, remembering the day that it had been taken, albeit a perhaps a somewhat sketchy memory of it. She had only been a child after all. The world had seemed so large then, and she had always begged her father to take her with him on his trips. And yet, her mother had rarely allowed it.

A slight pang of guilt erupted inside her. Her mother should have been on Coruscant by now, no doubt in the finest medical care that Bastila's credits would buy. And yet…she still felt _guilty_. Had she known earlier, would she still have hated her all these years? Would she have never wanted to see her again?

Closing down the holocron, Bastila slowly set it down on her pillow and closed her eyes. Her life had changed so much in the past months. She had gone from being so sure of herself, that she followed the Jedi Code to the letter, and that she could do no wrong. Now, she knew that wasn't true. Everyone made mistakes, and everyone could easily go 'bad'. She herself was a perfect example.

Had it really seemed so simple long ago? Everything in black and white? Light and Dark, no in between. Now, she realized, there was no such thing as an absolute side. Light and Dark, they co-existed, inter-twined, and could easily twist someone to their will. Twist someone so much out of shape that they could be almost unrecognizable, even to themselves. And then once, they gave into it, there would be almost no going back.

And yet, Bastila had come back, thanks to the love of her life. And now, looking back on it, she realized how close she had come to fully giving into the Dark Side. How it had called to her, how it had summoned her to join with it completely. How she had been afraid to call upon it.

And how it had _wanted _her.

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><p><strong>Ok, it's a little boring right now, but i promise you, it heats up in the next chapters.<strong>


	3. The Jedi Council Meeting

**Alrighty, this chapter's a little longer than the previous ones, and i hope that it worked out right. I was stressing over how to write the Council meeting, but i'm about 95% happy with how it came out. So, enjoy. And remember, reviews make my day! :)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

The sun of Rakata Prime was still hidden away from behind the storm clouds and rain that drenched everything in its path. The _Ebon Hawk_ had been moved further inland, mainly to avoid the flooding that had threatened to overtake the ship. Now, staring out of the cockpit window, Bastila watched the rain for what seemed like hours. The last remnants of the Republic fleet were hours away from pulling out of the system and returning to their usual posts. And with it, the last remnants of the _Ebon Hawk_'s crew were also leaving and going their own ways. From a certain point of view, the weather suited the scene perfectly.

Had it been only a few months since they had set out on the journey to find the Star Maps? It had all passed by like mere days. Hearing footsteps behind her, Bastila swiveled her chair around to face the hallway that connected the cockpit to the rest of the ship.

"Hello Bas." Revan said as he entered the cockpit. She smiled at ,yet another, of Revan's new pet names for her. She accumulated most of the ones that she had grown to like, Princess, Basty, and, sadly, Kinrath pup. She had hated being called a kinrath pup when he had first come up with the line, and yet, she had grown to love it.

"Another pet name Revan? How many more are you going to come up with?" she asked him, folding her hands in her lap. As Revan sat down, he leaned the chair back as far as it would go. Letting out of a breath of comfort, Revan smiled at her.

"As many as I possibly can. Deep down, I know you love 'em." As Bastila was about to retort, another set of footsteps were heard approaching. The two of them turned to see who it was, and were greeted by the ship's former pilot, Carth Onasi. Behind him, a duffle bag sat leaning against the wall, it's weight showing through the thick material that the bag was made up of.

"Thought I'd find you here…." He said, noticing Bastila sitting the co-pilot seat. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"No, nothing." Both Bastila and Revan started at almost the same time. Carth eye them suspiciously, and then chuckled a little under his breath. He had put up with their arguing for the past few months, and for them to not be completely screaming at each other was a welcomed change indeed.

"Whatever." He said, clearly wanting to speak what was on his mind. "Listen,…I'm heading out with the Fleet. I'm leaving on the next transport. " The room was silent, as neither party wanted to be the next to speak. Outside, the rain continued to pour down at a feverish pace. Lightning erupted every now and then.

"Anyway, I…I came to thank you. For everything. You helped me get my son back, and…you helped me realize I can't keep mourning over my wife." He said, looking both of them in the eyes. As Revan rose from his chair, he held out his hand. Carth took it, and the two of them shook hands in a tight grip.

"Goodbye Revan. Take care of this ship. She's one of a kind." Carth said as he let his hands fall back to his sides. Turning to face Bastila, he held out his arms in an offer of a hug. Slowly, Bastila accepted the offer with a quick hug.

"So long Bastila. Take care of yourself." Were the only words he offered as he turned and walked back down the hallway. As he walked out of their lives, possibly forever. And with him, the final remnants of the _Ebon Hawk_'s crew went their separate ways. One journey had come to an end, and a group of comrades, brought together in an attempt to save the galaxy, walked away.

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><p>On top of the temple, the sunset seemed to be one of the crowning jewels of the entire Republic. The rain storm of a few hours earlier had slowly given way to the sun mere hours before the sunset. As its glow radiated over the ocean that lay mere meters away from the temple itself, the mere image only would have given any being a special memory. And yet, to Bastila at least, this place would only continue to bring back bad memories for her. Memories of a place that she had never imagined that she would go.<p>

"It is indeed a glorious sight, isn't it, Padawan Bastila?" Master Vandar said, his voice sending ripples of shock through her body. Having been so enveloped in her own thoughts, she had failed to notice the tiny Jedi Master approach. Taking a spot standing beside her, he closed his eyes. The silence that followed made Bastila feel slightly uneasy although she quickly hid the emotion.

"There is another storm on the way." Vandar said at last, opening his eyes and keeping his focus on the sunset.

"What?" Bastila asked, turning her head to address the Jedi Master. Vandar in turn also turned his small stature to face her.

"A storm. Small now, but in its time it will unleash its power upon all that stand before it." He replied, his voice full of age and wisdom. Bastila was silent, quietly deciphering the words in her mind for any hidden meanings.

"Reach out with the Force, young Bastila, and see the changing patterns as the planet revolves through its cycles of day and night. " Doing as she was told, Bastila closed her eyes and expanded her mind to the living entity that was Rakata Prime. She could feel the animal-life that surrounded the area around the temple, the ancient Rakata Elders that had offered their own healers to the Republic's force after the battle, the rancors that had been successfully driven back by the occupying Republic forces, and there, on the horizon, was the storm that Master Vandar had described.

"Strong in the Force you are, Bastila. You are indeed gifted in many ways." Master Vandar said as Bastila opened her eyes and returned her focus to what was immediately around her. There was a smile on the Jedi Master's face as Bastila bowed at the compliment.

"Thank you Master Vandar."

"Kneel down Bastila. It will save both of our necks from pain later on." Bastila obeyed, kneeling down to one knee until she was nearly eye to eye with the Jedi Master.

"And also, you have achieved a feat that so few have been able to accomplish. You renounced the Dark Side and returned to the path of the light. For that, you have proven yourself worthy of the title of a Jedi." He said, reaching into his tunic and withdrawing a small vibro-knife. Gripping Bastila's Padawan braid gently in his hand, he looked her in her eyes.

"You are a Padawan no longer. With the Force as my witness, I proclaim you a Jedi Knight." As he finished, he quickly cut off Bastila's Padawan braid, and let it fall to the ground.

"Th…thank you Master Vandar. I am honored." Bastila responded, raising from her bended knee and bowing. Vandar, in turn, returned the gesture.

"You are among a select few, Bastila. Never forgot the lessons you have learned over the past few months. May the Force be with you." He said, turning and walking back towards the Temple elevator. Turning back to the sunset, Bastila did not yet realize how much of a storm was on the horizon...

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><p><strong>Malachor V, Trayus Sith Academy<strong>

"You fail to realize your importance _Sion_." Traya scolded, holding the ancient Sith Lord in a death grip with the Force. She had been so patient with him, waiting for him to finally see the truth of the what the galaxy really was. And he had _failed._ Failed because of his lack of vision, his lack of ability to see beyond himself. And _failure_ would not be tolerated by her.

"You fail to _see. _And you fail because you are unable to think." She continued, dropping the Sith Lord from her grip. He stared back at her, anger flowing unrestrained through his body, the only thing that was still fully keeping him together.

"And because you fail to see, you will lose that ability." As she finished her sentence, Traya reached out through the Force, working her way into his mind at a startling pace. And then, finally she found the link she was looking for, and she severed it. Sion screamed in pain as he felt all vision fade from his right eye. As Traya looked back at her work, she found nothing left in the eye, nothing but the bare fabric of it, completely white.

"And that is your punishment, _Sith Lord_. Learn from it, for it will only make you stronger." And with that, she turned away from the pathetic form that was her apprentice. Such ignorance that stemmed from him, and how much he refused to clamp down on. He was such a _failure._

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><p><strong>Dantooine, Temporary Jedi Enclave<strong>

Even though she had been before the Council many times in her life, Bastila had never felt this much anxiety in the bottom of her stomach, the emotion stemming from true fear. There had never been as much riding on this meeting before. If the Council chose to send them on two different paths….

"Calm down Bas, it's alright. They'll probably want to congratulate us on the success of the mission." Revan said, using the bond to read her feelings. She looked back at him, hardly able to express herself. There were times that she truly _hated_ this bond. Although the reasons were usually outweighed by how much she appreciated the bond, the emotion still lay inside her mind. Dormant, and hidden.

"Right. After they tell you that they want you to be the Grand Master instead of Nomi Sunrider?" she asked, her voice full of mock seriousness. Revan smiled at her.

"It seems that I'm beginning to rub off on you." He said, wrapping his arm around her neck. Slipping out of it, Bastila made her face a holo-drama of mock-horror.

"That's not good. Maybe I should erase my entire memory and start over." She replied jokingly. The smile disappeared from Revan's face, and she regretted saying what she had almost immediately. The bond between them grew slightly cold.

"Revan, I'm…I'm sorry. I didn't mean that." She said, taking Revan's hand into hers. Gradually, the bond became flooded with feelings of love and warmth, returning to its normal state.

"It's alright Bastila. You were making a joke. A few months ago, I probably would have done the same thing."

The Jedi Council had been uneasy since the destruction of the original Jedi Enclave. Master Dorak had died in the Sith bombardment, and all the surviving Council Members had been saddened by the death of their friend and comrade. From Coruscant, Nomi Sunrider, famed for severing Ulic Qel-Droma's connection to Force during the Sith Wars, and her daughter Vima had joined the Council. As Revan and Bastila entered the council chambers, the final words of the Council's argument still lingered.

"But are you sure that they've both truly been saved from the Dark Side?" Vrook was heard to say, his words full of distrust. Although his words had been directed towards Vandar, Nomi was the one who had responded.

"How can you _NOT_ be sure Vrook? They defeated the Dark Lord! They saved the Republic from certain defeat, and you CAN'T sense that they're servants of the light now?"

"Enough of this. We should continue this another time, we have visitors." Vandar said, finally ending the argument. Turning their attention towards the two Jedi Knights standing before them, the Council's attitude changed slightly. Standing off to the side slightly, Vima Sunrider watched the scene silently.

"Ah, greetings Knight Revan & Knight Bastila. It is an honor to finally meet you both." Nomi said, her voice showing no signs of distrust between them. Revan wondered if he had ever met her before his capture. Bastila bowed, and quickly Revan followed suite.

"The same to you, Master Nomi." Bastila said, keeping close to Revan. At this point, she hardly cared what they thought of them. But still, she feared what she would do if the Council decided to separate them. The thought of living without the constant presence of Revan in her life…she didn't want to find out what it was like.

"Indeed, this is a unique situation that we are all faced with. Although it is not customary for Jedi to work constantly with the same partner on missions, this is a _special_ case." Master Zhar said, repeating part of what he had said at the start of Revan's training months ago. He had _known._

"Special case? It's far _beyond_ that. Firstly, I want answers." Revan responded, taking a step closer to the Council members. A few of them seemed shocked by this display of anger, and it showed clearly in their stature.

"You feel that we owe you answers?" Vandar said, rising from his seat to meet Revan. The tone in his voice lacked emotion, which was unusal for the Jedi Master.

"Yes. I want to know _why_ I wasn't told about who I was. I had a damn right to know!"

"As Bastila has no doubt explained by now, your mind was extremely damaged when you were captured. We had our best healers examine you, and there was nothing we could do." Nomi explained, moving a few stray bands of her red hair out of her face. "In the end, the only option we had was to repair your mind with another identity. If we hadn't, you would have most likely died. And the galaxy would still be in danger."

"The ends don't justify the means."

"So, you would have preferred us to let you die." Zhar spoke up, looking the Knight up and down. "I find that hard to believe."

"I'm not saying that i would have preferred death." Revan said, his tone now lacking some of it's intital anger. "I'm saying that either way, you were in the wrong not to tell me." Off to his side, Vima Sunrider stepped forward.

"Revan, may I speak?" she asked, although the request sounded more like a demand. Bastila looked at her with a sign of respect, and stepped back slightly. He silently gave Vima an affirmative.

"I was with Bastila's strike-team. My mother speaks the truth about the condition you were in. There was truly nothing we could have done to fully restore your memory. We doubted that you would live much longer." The Council Chambers fell silent, as both parties considered their options. Finally Revan sighed, and took a step back to where he had originally been standing.

"Fine. I accept your reasons, and I accept that they led me to where I am today."

"It is good that you understand." Vander said, his tone gaining a some-what recognizable sense of happiness.

"It doesn't mean that I have to _like _the choice you made."

"Understandable, given your position now. Now, back to the matter on hand. Yourself and Knight Bastila are, indeed, a special case.."

"You speak of the bond between us." Bastila stated, her arms remaining at her side, despite how much she wanted to place them on top of Revan's.

"Indeed. Before Master Dorak... became one with the Force, he had researched how powerful some of these bonds could be." Vandar continued, pausing slightly at Dorak's name. "He found no previous record of a bond being as powerful as the one that exists between the two of you."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"In all regard, good. And yet, it raises another question. How _involved _are you two?" The chamber grew silent, as Revan and Bastila considered their wordings carefully.

"Master Vandar, over the past few months, we've grown close."

"It is true then. The feelings of love and compassion that eminate from you are not mere illusions."

"You must be cautious. Some of the greatest Knights in our order have been turned by love. The emotion can cloud your mind, impare your judgement." Nomi said, obviously speaking from past experience. "Anyone who controls the Dark Side will try to use that emotion to their advantage."

"However, love can also be used to a Jedi's advantage. For example, you claim that you were able to save Bastila by using the bond and the feelings that existed between you because of it." Zhar said, continuing where Nomi had left off.

"In the end, we will present you with a choice."

"A _choice_?"

"Yes. In light of recent events, we cannot hope to sever the bond that exists between you. It could be a blessing to our mission to protect the Republic." Vandar said, his words still lacking emotion in any form. "You may continue to work with Bastila, or we can assign you to another sector of the galaxy. The choice is yours." The room lay silent as the Council waited for Revan's answer. Even Bastila felt a certain feeling of fear in her heart. _He won't leave._

"I'm staying with Bastila." Revan finally replied, stepping a few inches closer to Bastila. Through their bond, everything silently fell back into place once again.

"Very well. Then your next assignment will concern a planet that both of you may feel a small part of attachment to."

"Where are we headed?" Revan asked, letting a hand fall down to his belt.

"The ruins of the Taris system."


	4. Surface of Taris

**Ok, after this chapter, i'm gonna put this story on hold for awhile. Working on a bunch of other stuff, not to mention school's taking up a lot of my time. Don't worry, it WILL be completed!**

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><p><strong>Ruins of Taris System<strong>

Bastila couldn't help but feel a sense of guilt as the _Ebon Hawk _left hyperspace above what had once been the planet of Taris. She could sense a small thread of guilt from Revan's mind, and it gave her a small amount of comfort to know that she wasn't the only one. Malak had destroyed the entire population in an attempt to prevent their escape from his Sith Forces, and although he hadn't known it at the time, he had nearly succeeded.

"How could anyone survive?" She asked, looking up from the co-pilot's chair. When they had been told that a transmission had been sent from Taris itself, there were the obvious doubts of its authenticity. There had been no transmissions from the planet during the days following the attack, so why were they just now asking for assistance?

"The chances are slim, but someone had to survive. Maybe the Outcasts were the ones who sent the transmission." Revan responded, turning on the ship's ground sensors. As the sensors started to do their job, the ship rocked suddenly, as if turbo-laser blasts were digging into the side of the ship. Throwing her own attention to the ship-to-ship sensors, Bastila quickly found the source of the attack.

"What's going on, Bastila?" Revan asked as he quickly switched on the deflector shields.

"Sith Battle Cruiser." She replied, looking over to Revan. How was it that the Sith were still here? Surely any part of the Sith occupation fleet would have pulled out once Malak had razed the planet. What use would there be to stick around?

"Must be a remnant from Malak's fleet. Stay here and pilot the ship. If I know better, that ship's gonna be sending out fighters." Revan said, flinging himself out of the pilot's chair and running down the hall towards the gun turrets. Sighing, Bastila quickly slid into the pilot's chair. _If this is as easy as Onasi made it seem._ Turning on the comlink, she waited for Revan to signal that he ready.

There was no answer except the sound of the turrets firing furiously. Watching some of the fighters zoomed past the cockpit, Bastila took hold of the controls and threw the ship into a barrel roll. A choice that didn't sit well with her stomach.

"Bastila, what the hell are you doing?" Revan shouted over the comlink, as Bastila straightened out the _Hawk_'s path. The turret shots resumed and Bastila quietly reminded herself to never fly the ship again. This cast what Carth had done into a brand new light. _I knew there was a reason I never fly the ship!_

_Oh really? I'll have to remember to have you do this more often! _She heard Revan say through the bond.

"Oh shut up!" she said aloud into the comlink. Looking into the ground scanner, she noticed a tiny blimp of light on the planetary map_. A landing beacon?_ Checking the scanner again, she found it was still there.

"Sorry to spoil your fun Revan." She said into the comlink "But I'm heading down to the planet."

"What are you talking about?"

"I saw a landing beacon on the sensors. It's not much but it's the only lead we've got!" She replied, piloting the _Hawk_ away from the Sith cruiser and the fighters. A few of the fighters zoomed after them, firing a few shots that came dangerously close to the engines. As the ship came around, a few more shots flew out of the turrets, and as the fighters exploded into a firery display of light and fire, the _Ebon Hawk _resumed its fast course down to the planet below.

* * *

><p>The turrets had stopped and soon Revan was back in the cockpit, sitting in the co-pilot's seat. In front of the view screen, the clouds in the atmosphere blinded anything from the surface. And then, slowly, the surface came into sight.<p>

"My…gods…" Was the only response her mind could muster. What had once been a beautiful sprawling city was now nothing more than a scrap pile. The once proud buildings now lay either smoldering or collapsed onto each other. What had once been streets now lay crumbled beyond recognition on the surface of the planet. And laying among the wreckage, were thousands upon thousands of bodies.

Insider her, Bastila wanted nothing more than to throw up any food that she had recently digested. _How could any human do this…._

"Malak's dead Bastila. They've already been avenged." Revan finally said, he himself turning his attention away from the ghastly sight. No-one could have stood the sight of this, not even a Mandalorian. Spotting the landing beacon, Bastila slowly sat the ship down upon a partially destroyed landing structure. Behind her, Revan sighed in relief.

"Am I really that bad a pilot?" Bastila asked, turning and facing Revan with questioning eyes.

"No. No-one could possibly be worse than Mission was at flying the _Hawk._"

* * *

><p>Covering the ship with parts of ruined buildings, the two Jedi Knights slowly began to work their way through the wreckage of what, at one time, had once been considered one of the jewels of the Republic. No matter which way she looked, Bastila was confronted with the sight of either bodies or small fires that still burned beneath former apartment buildings, shops, &amp; cantinas. Where once life had existed, there now lay only death.<p>

As she continued to walk through the rubble, she felt the unignorable sense of danger echo through the Force. Turning around, Bastila ignited her lightsaber and was met with the face of a Rakghoul. With her blade emerging through the creature's back, she looked over the entire creature's body, and quickly regretted it. It stared back at her with its half-human mutated face. Disengaging her Jedi weapon, she pushed the disgusting creature away with her boot.

"Rakghouls. Out of everything that could have survived, why did it need to be _Rakghouls_?" Revan said as he rushed to her side, his lightsaber hilt in his hands. Bastila remembered the stories that Revan had told her of how he and the others had traversed the Undercity and had fought off dozens of these monsters, and how utterly brutal the creatures were.

"If these survived, wouldn't that mean something else survived? I mean, what else could they feed on?"

"Each other." Revan responded, kicking the animal's corpse onto its back to make sure that it was indeed dead.

"That's not very encouraging." Bastila responded, closing her eyes and reaching out with the Force to make sure that no more of these _monsters_ were lurking, waiting for the chance to make a meal of the two Jedi.

"It wasn't supposed to be." Revan said, moving ahead through some more wreckage. "Keep your eyes open, there could easily be a million of these things by now."

"Overeager Query: Master, may you please point me in the direction of these animals, and allow me the pleasure of wiping their species from the face of the galaxy?" HK-47 asked, his blaster rifle being held 'lovingly' in his hands. Rolling her eyes, Bastila walked a few feet off to her right, wanting to put as much distance between her and the assassin droid as she could. Her feelings towards what she called "_Revan's plaything_" were a combination of both fear and resentment. No matter what the situation, it always wanted to kill _something_. If the planet itself had a heartbeat, the droid would fill the urge to destroy it.

"No, HK. Stick close to me and Bastila. If something really gets out of hand, I'll let you do all of the killing."

"Disappointed Statement: Very well Master. I will stick close to you and the female meatbag." HK responded, his photoreceptors dimming a little in a show of complete disappointment. Mumbling something under her breath, Bastila continued through the piles and piles of both wreckage and bodies. This was going to be a long trip, she just knew it.

* * *

><p><strong>Malachor V, Trayus Academy <strong>

She was _weak, _and yet, she still held more power in her sway than Sion could ever possibly hope to be. She had been a failure of the Jedi Order, and now, it was almost as if she sought to weaken the Sith from within themselves, determined to bring down everything that their sacred Sith Order had built over a millenia. And he was powerless to stop her.

He had been on this planet for close to a year now, waiting. Waiting for a challenge worthy of his power. And yet, Traya held enough power to hold him here. And so they waited, on Malachor, a planet rich with the Dark Side, waited for a challenge that he knew was out there. And now, he waited for that challenge to come to him.

He knew that she was watching him. Watching him for any sign of deception, any sign of betrayal. And he knew that she would try to dispose of him, in exactly the way that he had once tried to do with her.

And so he waited.

* * *

><p><strong>Ruins of Taris System<strong>

"You've stopped. Is something wrong?" Bastila asked as she watched Revan suddenly stop in front of her. Turning to face her, he dropped his pack onto the ground below him.

"It's getting dark. We should stop and set up some kind of camp." Above him, the sky was rapidly turning black, and in every direction, it was starting to become impossible to see within a few feet. In the dark, any half-formed buildings began to look even more haunting than they did in the daylight. And the Rakghouls would have an undeniable advantage.

"You're right. Although I would have preferred to sleep on the ship." She stated, sitting down on a crumpled piece of metal. Her feet were aching, although she did her best to ignore it. She had walked further than this in the past, and she would survive. Still, she found it hard to ignore the bad memories of her capture by the Black Vulkars that came seeping back into her brain.

"And the second we started up the ship, that Sith warship would have a positive location on us."

"I _understand_ that. I was simply stating my _opinion_!" Bastila responded, forcing her voice to retain its normal volume. "I'm…I'm sorry. I'm tired, and this planet does little to help me concentrate on the Force. It seems devoid of it."

"What do you mean 'devoid of the Force?' Is that even possible?"

"Reach out. There is nothing here besides us for the Force to inhabit." It grew silent between the two of them for a few moments, as Revan closed his eyes and reached out to the Force. Bastila was indeed right, he could sense nothing except himself and the woman standing across from him.

"You're right. There really is nothing here besides us and HK." Revan said, walking over and sitting down beside Bastila. The temperature was dropping rapidly, a fact that did not go unnoticed by either of them.

"We really should get a fire started." Across from them, HK-47 raised his arm.

"Question: Shall I use my flamethrower to start the fire that you desire?" He asked, his frame still visible despite the dim lighting.

"Yes HK. Go find something and then you can use your flamethrower to torch it." Revan responded, wrapping his arm around Bastila. Her eyes were struggling to stay awake, and he remembered that she hadn't sleep in the past two days. He himself was now starting to become aware of his own exhaustion. It had been a long day, and it wasn't easy for anyone to be surrounded by this much death, especially considering that they had seen the act as it had taken place. Someday this planet would recover, but it wasn't going to happen within his life-time. Or Bastila's for that matter.

She had fallen asleep by now, and he quietly removed his arm from around her. As he carefully laid her back onto the piece of metal, he took off his cloak and wrapped it around her. She smiled at the gesture, although Revan could sense that she was by now fast asleep. _Even asleep, she's beautiful _he thought to himself. Watching her for just a few seconds more, Revan quickly climbed up to a pile of metal that looked stable. He would take first watch, and then once HK came back, he would let the droid watch over both himself and Bastila.

* * *

><p>The droid returned half an hour later, carrying a few pieces of burnable material, which it quickly went to work igniting with the flamethrower. Standing and warming his hands by the fire, Revan, looked up at the stars in the sky. Across the sky, the white objects littered themselves across each other, intersecting and sometimes appearing to have crossed.<p>

"Query: Shall I begin my guard duty, Master?" HK asked, his blaster rifle held in his hands. In the dark, the droid's glowing photoreceptors gave it an aura of evil. To any being that found itself confronted with the droid in the dark, fear would run rampant through their mind.

"Yes, go ahead HK. If anything else even remotely moves out there, blast it first and ask questions later."

"Satisfied Statement: Yes Master. Oh, this is going to be fun" The droid replied, shuffling off to a spot that most likely had a wide area of fire. Taking a few more moments to stare at the stars, Revan quietly laid down beside Bastila, and tried to get some sleep.


	5. Hunted

**Ok, and we're back!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

Blaster fire was the only sound echoing through her ears as she was awakened from her dream . Shaking off a cloak from her body, Bastila quickly had her weapon in hand as she jumped to her feet. Revan was quickly following suite, although a tad slower than Bastila had been. The night sky was ablaze with illumination flares, although who was lighting them was unknown to the two of them.

"What's going on?" Revan asked as HK quickly came into sight. The droid had splatters of blood over his body, no-doubt from someone who had been foolish enough to attack him. If his photoreceptors could have shown emotion, they would have been without a doubt filled with a combination of excitement and joy.

"Answer: It appears that a small Sith Force has landed in a clearing to the East of our current position. Mocking Statement: They were indeed foolish enough to think that they could easily take this unit out in quick time. "The droid replied, raising his blaster to fire a few more shots into the area behind him. A few cries were heard following suite, no doubt from one of the Sith that had been unfortunate enough to have met the droid's blaster bolts.

"How did they find us?" Bastila questioned, looking up into the sky to see another ground transport gliding across the sky.

"Answer: It was most likely the fire that the Master ordered made."

"What fire?" Bastila asked Revan, placing her hands on her hips in a display of _Why wasn't I told? _ that had been so common months ago.

"Nevermind the fire, we have to get somewhere safe. And fast."

"Where? The whole planet's a scrap-pile!" A few blaster bolts slammed into a piece of metal above her head as Bastila finished her sentence. As more bolts flashed by, the two Jedi took cover as HK continued to return fire.

"Anywhere is better than where we are right now!" Revan shouted above the growing chaos of battle. Grabbing a few things out of the pack that he had been carrying earlier, Revan quickly rushed over to Bastila, and upon grabbing her hand, he rushed off into the surrounding darkness of the planet.

"HK, keep them busy! We'll contact you later!" Behind them, the droid gave a quick statement of agreement and quickly turned and opened fire in the darkness. A few shots quickly responded, although their sound and light diminished as Revan and Bastila quickly ducked underneath a partially destroyed building. The shots continued in the distance, and then, just as sudden as they had begun, stopped completely.

"Revan, I'm not enti-." Bastila started before Revan pulled her close and placed a hand over her mouth.

"_Quiet!"_ He said in a voice that was barely a whisper. Struggling momentarily against his hand, Bastila quickly gave up and remained motionless. The two of them lay completely silent, jammed in between two set of walls that had remained standing. They could hear the footsteps coming dangerously close to their position, and both of them knew the danger that could easily overtake them.

"There's nothing out here Lieutenant! How do we know that they didn't just exit the atmosphere and then enter hyperspace on the other end of the planet?" One of the Sith soldiers said, his voice showing a clear sign of annoyance.

"Then how do you explain the fire? Lord Malak left nothing alive when he razed this place. No, they didn't leave. They must have set down somewhere and hidden their ship. Keep searching!"

As a search light hit a wall near them, the two Jedi Knights couldn't help but feel a certain sense of fear. If they ignited their lightsabers and did battle, the rest of the troops would be alerted, and they clearly out-numbered them five-to-one. As the light quickly disappeared from the wall, Bastila silently let out a breath that she didn't know she had been holding. Both of them waited in the dark until they were absolutely sure that it was safe to exit their hiding space.

"This is _not_ my idea of fun." Bastila stated as she returned to her feet. In the distance, the search lights of the Sith troops could still be seen faintly.

"Didn't you already say that before?" Revan asked, taking his lightsaber hilt into his hand in case any other Sith troops in the area came close to them.

"You're the one who keeps track of everything everyone says, you tell me." Bastila retorted, a hint of sarcasm running through her voice.

"Whatever. We _don't_ have time for this, we've got to get somewhere safe, and fast."

"And where exactly would that be?" Revan stood there, frozen in silent meditation on the task that now lay before the two of them. There was no telling how many soldiers that the ship that lay in orbit above them would throw at them. And knowing how hard the Sith forces were going to want revenge for Malak, that could mean any amount.

"I think we should split up, hide in different spots."

"I see. _Explain_." Bastila asked, brushing a few stray strands of hair out of her eyes.

"If, in the extreme unlikely hood that they find us, they would only capture one of us, and if that happens, the other can quickly get a rescue plan up and running.

"Agreed, and how does that blood-thirsty droid of yours factor into this?"

"I don't know. HK knows how to handle himself, and if he goes down, again extremely unlikely, he's going to take at least a hundred of them with him." Behind them, a small pile of rubble fell over with a moderate crumbling sound. Swiveling around to face the origin of the sound, Bastila found herself in the presence of a man dressed in a familiar set of black and silver armor.

"Sto—Stop right there!" He said, his voice uneasy and nervous, the obvious signs of a fresh recruit.

Quickly weighing the options in her mind, Bastila didn't ignite her weapon and strike the boy down. Revan followed suite without a word.

"I'm warning you!" The soldier continued, raising his blaster rifle in front of him. His face behind the usual armor's visor was nothing more than a color of black. And yet, Bastila knew that there was a face of fear behind it.

"You don't want to use that weapon." She said, waving her hand in front of her. The boy's mind was nothing more than a scattered place of emotions and thoughts, all leading nowhere. She had convinced beings with stronger-willed minds, and this would go over easily.

"I…I don't want to use this weapon." The boy said, echoing Bastila's words. He lowered the weapon quickly, and held it in a loose one-handed grip.

"You never saw us."

"I never saw you."

"You want to go back to your commander and report that you found nothing what so ever.

"I want to go back to the commander, and give him an negative on the search."

"Move along." Bastila said, watching in silence as the soldier quickly walked away from the two of them, his feet shifting uneasily in the rough terrain of the city. He showed no signs of noticing how quickly his mind had been changed, and he continued on his way.

"Even for us, you make that look easy. Remind me never to make you angry." Revan said quietly, moving against the end of the wall to make sure the coast was clear. Behind him, Bastila grinned slightly.

"Trust me, if you ever _really_ made me angry, you wouldn't remember it."

* * *

><p><strong>Malachor V, Trayus Academy<strong>

The walls of the Trayus Academy were utterly silent. Bodies lay around in various states of decay, reminders of the failures of both Sion and Nihilus previous failures. Failure's that been brought to light by their master. Sion himself was surprised that Nihilus hadn't fed himself on the bodies, considering how the Force was trapped here. Every day he was growing weaker, which he blamed on Traya's teachings.

He_ hated_ her, oh how he hated her. How she treated him like a spoiled child, a child that she was trying to fix through a series of beatings. The damage in his eye had still refused to heal, for whatever meager amount that the Dark Side could heal. Even his Sith minions were growing terrified of him, he could feel it. They knew it was a death sentence to be called to his presence after a failed mission.

Behind him, the unmistakable sound of the True Sith language reached his ears. Traya's other apprentice, the one she called the "Lord Of Hunger", had approached him. _Without reason_.

"I did not summon you." Sion replied calmly, not even bothering to face his fellow Sith Lord. The other's response would be unclear to anyone who had not experienced speaking and understanding the language first hand. But Sion had, during the original Sith Wars.

_Kresh da si Krosh ai_

"Leave. Now." Sion stated, pulling his lightsaber off of its clip. But he did not ignite it. His fellow Sith obeyed and left the room, his black robes flowing behind him. Around him, the walls of Malachor V closed in a little tighter.

* * *

><p><strong>Ruins Of Taris System<strong>

From the spot where she was hidden, Bastila could see the Sith landing parties were slowly pulling out, although she was sure that there would be some kind of permanent team that would stay on the planet, until something, alive or _dead_, was found.

_Revan, they're pulling out. What should we do? _Bastila asked through the bond, still lying as close to the ground as she possibly could. Off to her right, the dead body of a dead citizen lay, its eye open and staring at her. Doing her best to ignore it, Bastila closed her eyes and waited Revan's response.

_Stay where you are. Give them so more time. _Revan responded, staying out of sight from anything. The mission was far from anything that both of them had expected. And, quietly of course, Bastila wished that _something_ would finally go right for them. The dirt below her was almost completely mud, and she could rapidly feel it soaking into her Jedi robes. The rain would occasionally fall down into her eyes, and now more than ever, she remembered why she disliked being in the rain.

_Alright_ Was the only response that she offered and she quickly went back to hiding her presence from anything that would come within even meters of her. Her hair was completely undone from its usual form, and it dropped freely over her ears and the back of her neck. Due to the moisture in the air, it was almost completely soaked, and water now freely dripped down it and onto her face. Resisting the urge to move her hair back out of her face, Bastila continued to remain perfectly still.

Within a few more hours, the Sith troops had completely withdrawn from the planet, save for a small force that remained to continue the search. Although their numbers were greatly reduced, Revan knew that the troops who had stayed behind would either be volunteers or hand-picked troops. A worthy force, even for a veteran Republican Army battalion. He and Bastila would have to have some kind of plan for how they approached this one.

_Bastila, stay where you are. I'm coming over _He said silently through the bond, knowing that she would understand. Ducking and quickly moving behind large pieces of ruined buildings, Revan wished that he knew what had happened to HK. Looking down at his feet, he quickly found the answer.

The droid was deactivated, probably by its own choice. Checking over the droid's body, he discovered that none of the main, essential systems had been damaged beyond repair. Within a few days, the droid would be completely repaired. Pulling the droid back behind the pile of the rubble that he was hiding behind, Revan quickly hid the droid and then continued on his way towards Bastila.

"Took you long enough." Bastila whispered as Revan ducked into the small overhang of wreckage that she herself was hiding under. Quickly tying her hair back into a single pony-tail, she pulled her lightsaber into her hand. Not the same double-blade that she had used months ago, Revan had destroyed that one during their duel on the Star Forge. Instead, she had gone back to using the same single-bladed weapon that she had used during…when her strike team had captured him.

"What can I say, I like to take my time." Bastila frowned slightly at the joke, and turned her attention to the Sith force that lay ahead of them. The rain was pouring down by now, and it soaked every inch of their skin.

"How are we going to get past them?" She asked, pulling her lightsaber off of its spot on her belt.

"I was thinking we could just take them head-on."

"Bold." Bastila said, as she stated up in the distance at the Sith Force. They were clearly gathered around something, although at this distance she couldn't tell what it was.

"Well, that's me" Revan replied, his own Jedi weapon in his hand. Parts of his long black hair clung to his face, and he pushed them out of his eyes.

"Fine. Shall you lead or should I?" Bastila asked, slowly pulling herself out of the wreckage that she had hidden under. Revan was already on his feet at her side, his face already prepared to block out the emotions of battle. Ahead of them, the Sith soldiers sat around a hologram emitter, no doubt receiving a message from their commander.

"I'll do it." Revan responded, as he and Bastila calmly began a walk towards their enemy. Stopping within a few feet of the soldiers, Revan picked up a small stone that lay at his feet. With a slight grin at Bastila, he tossed it at what would have been the base of the hologram. As the Sith troops raised their heads, they were met with the colors of Revan's blue blade and Bastila's yellow.

"Hello there! Thought we'd drop in, hope you don't mind." He said as the troops quickly jumped to their feet with their weapons in their hands. The first two raised their weapons to fire at Revan, but were quickly cut down by Bastila, who had jumped from behind Revan with her saber ablaze in her hands. Seeing their comrades cut down, the remaining troops fired at the yellow blade, the blaster bolts emitting bits of steam as the rain landed upon them in mid-flight. Neglecting to focus on the second Jedi, the Sith troops found themselves at the receiving ends of both blue and yellow blades. Within minutes, the battle was over, and upon shutting down their lightsabers, they found the entire area to be completely silent. An eerie deathly silence that only a planet with no life upon it could produce.

* * *

><p><strong>Sith Command Ship, Orbit Above Taris<strong>

"What do you mean, you found nothing?" Captain Mowcan asked, the very last of his patience fading away. He had been stuck in this system for the past four months, obeying Malak's orders to 'guard' the system. And yet, there was nothing more than madness behind this assignment. Every single day, he prayed for a communication from high-command, a notice that he would be re-assigned. And yet, every single day, there was nothing.

"We mean that there is nothing here. By our new estimations, they must have entered hyperspace on the far side of the planet."

"No lieutenant, we have picked up no sign of any ship entering hyperspace. They are still there on the surface." A small amount of interference interrupted the communications, and then slowly, the sounds of battle were heard echoing through the bridge.

"What's going on down there?" Mowcan said, turning towards the head technician on the bridge.

"There's nothing wrong with the communications, something must be interrupting the video feed." And then, suddenly as it had begun, the video interference ended and the sight of two humans wielding lightsabers was seen, just as the two of them cut down more of the troops planet-side. He recognized one of the two beings, the young Jedi Bastila Shan. Wanted by Lord Malak for her gift in Battle Meditation. The one that_ should_ have been killed in the bombardment of Taris.

"Tech Officer?" Mowcan said, turning from his view of the hologram.

"Yes sir?"

"Tell Colonel Tresy to prepare all of the available troops. If my gut is right, those two Jedi are our way out of here."


	6. The Outcasts

**Chapter 6**

The rain was still pouring down hours later, turning every single inch of dirt between wreckage into they continued, Revan and Bastila found themselves fighting the elements at every turn. All around them, the ruins of Taris sat in silence, a sign of death from where life had once existed peacefully. The planet was truly dead, Malak had made sure of that.

"There has to be somewhere out of this rain." Bastila said aloud, frowning as she felt her boot sink into the mud beneath her. "And the mud."

"Up there." Revan said, pointing quickly to a large opening in the side of the remains of an apartment building. Jumping up into the opening in the side of a remarkably intact building, Revan signaled for Bastila to join him. As she climbed into the same opening as Revan, Bastila was thankful to be out of the rain. With every single inch of her skin was dripping wet, she hoped that she could regain some of the warmth that her body had lost.

"I'm surprised that this building survived the bombardment." She said, ringing out part of her wet hair. Revan had laid himself against the wall, most likely thankful to finally be off his feet.

"I'm more thankful that surprised." Revan responded, his eyes half-asleep. Bastila shared the same expression, although she found it easier to stay awake than Revan did. Reaching out through the bond, she found his mind to be hazy, an obvious side-effect of his lack of sleep. Doing her best to assure him that it was alright to sleep, Bastila watched him quickly give in to the demands of sleep.

He had a peaceful expression while he was sleeping, a fact which Bastila hadn't neglected to notice. Taking a few moments to take in the sight of him, she slowly sat down on the opposite wall and quickly took off her boots. Flipping them upside down, she watched with distaste as a combination of mud and water fell out of them and onto the floor. Laying them on the ground beside her, she laid her own head back against the wall and closed her eyes.

This mission had gone so completely off-track that there were times that Bastila didn't remember _why_ they had been sent here. It had been a foolish choice to come back here and search for survivors. Anyone could see that this planet was dead, and would most likely never support life again. At least never on the grand-scale that it had previously been. Even though that grand-scale city had suffered from a dark underbelly the size of Coruscant.

And yet, they had kept searching. Hoping, praying for someone to be alive down here. Inside Revan's heart, she knew that the desire to find someone had been greater, for just the simple fact that he believed that it was _he _who had created the creature that had been Darth Malak. In someone ways, Bastila agreed with that line of thinking, but she always kept the thought buried in the dark recesses of her mind, where not even Revan could go.

Feeling the tug at the back of her mind, Bastila knew that she would have to sleep sometime. With the steady patter of the rain outside the building providing a steady rhythm, she fell into a deep sleep, a tune that her mother had once hummed to her when she had been a child came ringing into her ears. Remembering the melody of the tune, Bastila finally gave in, and let her sleep deprived body win.

* * *

><p><em>"You are strong child, but i<em> will _break you!" Malak said, clenching his fist as the last remnants of the lightning flew off of her body. Smoke rose into the air, filling it with the smell of burning flesh. Opening her eyes, Bastila was met with the image of Malak looming over her._

_"You think torture will turn me, Malak? You're a fool!" There was a lingering sense of defiance in her voice, but inside, she felt fear. The bond had grown cold, and that was the single thing that filled her with dread._

_"You misunderstand, young Bastila. This is only a _taste _of what the Dark Side can offer." He replied, thrusting his face inches away from hers. "Merely something to wet your __appetite." _

_"I'll never fall to the Dark Side!" She said, turning her head in the process. Focusing on the opposite wall, she tried to prepare herself as she heard the sound of lightning beginning to fill the room once again._

_"We shall see." Malak's words echoed as she felt the full force of the lightning slam into her body._

* * *

><p>Watching them fall asleep, Igear couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation. No doubt that Gendar would be pleased to know that their message had indeed gotten through to <em>someone.<em> And yet, he couldn't resist the urge to see if these sleeping humans had anything worth stealing. Surely he could sell it back to them at a later date. And that would bring him some credits when they got off world.

Slowly sneaking over to where the woman was sleeping, Igear eyed her body from where he stood. She was indeed beautiful, and had he had no sense of self-control, he would have felt tempted to...'spend time' with her. Still, business _always _came first.

Ignoring the mumblings that she kept saying as she slept, Igear gazed down at the belt that she was wearing. No doubt there were numerous gadgets and pieces of technology that would come in handy later on. Reaching his hand down to grab the belt, his mind was full of nothing but concentration on the single task before him.

"I wouldn't touch her if I were you." The man said, his own hand grapping Igear's arm in a quick, swift motion. Fear lighting his eyes, Igear fought frantically to free his limb from the man's grip. It was useless gesture, and he stopped as the woman's eyes fluttered awake.

"He-hey let me go! I wasn't gonna hurt nobody!" He said, staring at the two humans with frightful eyes.

"What's going on, Revan?" The woman said, her hand falling down to a cylinder shaped object that rested on her belt.

"Nothing. I just caught this thief trying to steal something off of you."

"Is that so?"

"Indeed it is."

"Lo-Look, let me go. I wasn't gonna hurt no-one! I was just looking for supplies for the rest of my people. They're starving and….hey wait! I remember you! You passed through the village a couple days before the bombing started!" Igear said, recognizing the male as a Republic soldier that had bought some of his inventory when he still resided in the older Outcast village.

"Refresh my memory a little more." Revan responded, letting go of Igear's arm but keeping a hand on his lightsaber hilt. He was amazed to find someone alive on the planet, and yet was a little discouraged to find that they had resorted to outright thievery.

"I was part of the Outcasts from the Undercity. You passed through the village with someone else in an orange jacket. You were the one who defeated the Rakghouls outside the gate to the village, and then we never saw you come back."

"And what exactly did you do in the village?" Bastila asked, stepping into the conversation after mostly remaining silent.

"I-I ran a small shop, you know, selling some useful items to passers-through."

"Igear?" Revan said, a steam of recognition running through his mind. He remembered this man, one of the poor souls that had been banished to the Undercity for 'crimes' that the rich claimed that they had committed. He felt a small amount of pity for those men and women still.

"Yeah! Now you remember!"

"I also remember that you were plotting to overthrow Gendar."

"Yeah, well…..Look, that's the past. You….you came back here right? You've got a ship?" Igear replied, stumbling for the right words.

"_No_, we survived the Upper City collapsing." Bastila said in a sarcastic tone. By now, she had pulled her boots back onto her feet, finding that they had dried completely. She barely felt renewed after her short amount of sleep, and even the fact that they had found someone alive failed to uplift her.

"How could anyone…..oh I see. A joke." Igear responded, laughing in a nervous manner after he had finished. He was frightful of something….something that Bastila couldn't sense anywhere in the man's mind. He was hiding _something…_

"Enough, we're wasting time. Igear, can you take us to the village?" Revan asked, finally removing his hand from his lightsaber. Not as a symbol of trust, but as a symbol of meaning no harm. In his mind, he knew there was something wrong with this. Something very wrong…

"Yeah, sure. Just follow me. Gendar's gonna be happy to finally see someone who can get us off the planet." Walking down a hidden set of stairs, Igear walked a few paces ahead of Revan and Bastila. He could feel them staring into his back, waiting for any sign of a threat. When none arose, they dropped their alertness slightly, but they still keep their hands within reach of the lightsabers on their belts.

_Did you sense it? _Bastila asked, speaking through their bond. She was still exhausted, although it wasn't as bad as it had been a few hours earlier. What the two of them needed was a vacation away from everything, and that thought ran through Revan's mind at a furious pace.

_Yes. Something's….wrong. Like someone's behind some-kind of a black curtain, controlling something we can't see. _Revan responded, looking at her in silent agreement.

_Stay on your guard. _He heard Bastila say, ending the conversation. Both of them continued walking down the staircase that Igear had _insisted_ that they take. Outside, the rain was still coming down at full force, and neither of them looked forward to going back out into the wet weather. Slipping out of his tunic, Revan wrapped it around Bastila's shoulders.

_Revan, I will be perfectly fine walking in the rain without a tunic. Really! _Bastila echoed through the bond, pulling the hood of the tunic up anyway. She knew there was no point in arguing with Revan, his stubbornness would kick in, and then it would be impossible to win _anything_ against him.

_Yeah, And after that walk on Manaan, you were sick and miserable for weeks on-end._

The conversation ended with that.

* * *

><p>The Outcast village was now in a even more depressing state than it had been in its original incarnation. Most of the villagers that had survived the Sith bombardment had found their world to be in even worse shape than it had been after the Tarisian Civil War.<p>

"Igear, you've returned, and in the company of friends." Gendar said, watching as the merchant emerged back into the village with his two humans, one male and the other female. Across the village, whispers and gasps were heard, an obvious sign of amazement.

Gendar recognized the male as one of many who had passed through the old village before the planet's surface had been destroyed. How they had survived the bombardment was the one question that swirled through his mind.

"Hello Gendar." Revan said, extending his hand in greetings. The rain had stopped now, and both his and Bastila's bodies had dried in a some-what crude fashion. The lingering feeling that both of them had sensed earlier hadn't disappeared, and it still remained stuck in their thoughts.

"Ah, yes. I remember you. The stranger who wanted information on those escape pods."

"Yeah, that's me." Revan responded as Gendar finished shaking his hand. Almost all of the villager's clothing had obviously seen better days. How anyone could have survived living like this, let alone for _years_, on this planet, was a complete mystery to Bastila. She couldn't even wrap the thought around her mind.

"_Oh, thank the gods you've come_!" Someone behind them screamed, one of the villagers. Revan turned in time to watch one of the women throw herself at Bastila's feet. Looking down at her, Bastila felt a mixture of pity and sadness. The woman's face was stained by tears, and she was sobbing something unintelligible into Bastila's boot. Kneeling down, Bastila pulled the woman's face away from her feet, and looked her in the eyes.

"Are…" The woman started before Bastila interrupted her.

"Yes, we are here to take you away." Bastila said, letting the woman cry into her shoulder.

"Is it true then?" Gendar asked, turning his attention away from the scene before him.

"As my companion just explained, we are here to take you and your people away."

"Who sent you? Our message couldn't have gotten very far off-world."

"The Jedi Council on Dantooine. They told us that a ship passing through the area picked it up." Revan responded, being somewhat eager to leave this planet.

"Yes, a ship that _I _made contact with!" Igear said, raising a blaster and aiming it at Revan's back. Letting go of the woman in front of her, Bastila pulled her lightsaber off her belt and quickly ignited it. Turning to face his soon-to-be attacker, Revan wasn't surprised that the feeling of mysteriousness had vanished from the young merchant's mind, and that only a small fragment of it still remained.

"What's the meaning of this?" Gendar said, his very presence inspiring a feeling of power even though he lacked a weapon of any-kind. Wheeling around, Igear fired a shot into the man's chest. As Gendar fell back to the ground, a few in the crowd screamed in horror, and backed away. The situation was rapidly growing worse every second, a fact that was not lost on either Revan or Bastila.

"I'm taking over, that's what's happening!" Igear said, rapidly re-aiming his blaster at Revan. Bastila hadn't moved, but her lightsaber still remained raised in her hand. Seeing an engaged lightsaber, the remnants of the crowd backed away to a safe distance.

"And what makes you think you can possibly take over? Why would these people even _want_ to follow you?" Revan asked, his hands remaining at his sides. He made no motion to grab his lightsaber, and he kept his eyes trained on Igear. The man's blaster was shaking slightly, an obvious sign of repressed nervousness.

"Simple. I've had contact with the Sith vessel that now lays in our atmosphere. They should be here to take us away any minute now."

"You've contacted the Sith? You're a fool!" Bastila said, twisting her lightsaber in her hands.

"Think what you will, but I'm the hero, not some ignorant Jedi!"

"You've lost your mind." Revan stated, finally taking his lightsaber into his hands. As its blue-blade emerged, the red-color of blaster fire filled the air. Meeting the blasts with her lightsaber, Bastila watched as the bolts were deflected back towards their origin. As Igear hit the ground, he groaned slightly, and then slowly, Revan and Bastila felt all traces of life leave his body.

This mission had just gone from out-of-control to nothing less of a disaster.


	7. Escaping Taris

_**Alrighty, we've reached the end of the Taris stage of the story! *Pats self on back*. Anyway, when I originally wrote this, I intended it to be a stand-alone novel, but then when I got into the middle of it, I decided to make it part of a trilogy. So, yes, the story is infact far from over. The Taris part is simply "Book 1 Part 1" in a sense.**_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Ruins Of Taris System<strong>

As he watched from one of the surrounding buildings, Revan continued to silently count the numbers as more and more Sith troops poured out of their landing shuttles. So far he had counted close to fifty, and the shuttles gave no sign of stopping. _This just isn't our day._

_That's what you said on Manaan. _Bastila responded, sitting beside him and counting numbers herself. Upon Revan's instructions, she had hidden almost all of the villagers safely away from the site of the Sith troops. No matter what Igear's intentions had been, his choice of bringing the Sith into this had simply complicated matters even more. The Sith forces would simply finish what Malak had started.

_Because both of us getting arrested over an explosion that _wasn't _our fault , REALLY wasn't our day. _Revan responded, turning his attention away from the shuttles to look Bastila in her eyes, those silver eyes that he had come to love so much. Both of them were covered in a combination of smoke, mud, and sweat, which had the unforeseen advantage of creating a natural camouflage of some-sorts. Even with that advantage, he would be glad once they were back on the _Ebon Hawk_, with its warm refresher system.

_What is it? _Bastila asked, noticing that Revan was staring at her, as she often found him doing. More than a few times, she found herself tempted to glare back at him, just to give him a taste of his own kolto.

_There's always the chance we might never come out of this_ Revan responded, his thoughts giving off a 'feeling' of actual fear. Momentarily at a loss for words, Bastila didn't respond, choosing instead to stare back at him. Over the entire course of her life, she had never let in the fact that there was always the chance that each mission could easily lead to an early death. But now…_blast it_, he was right.

_And there's always the chance that we _will _get out of it. Which would you rather have? _Bastila asked, taking Revan's hand into her hers.

_The one that ends with me and you walking out of here alive _Revan responded, pulling her closer to him. Her body was cold, without a doubt a side effect of what both of them had been through over the course of the past few days. And yet, there was no cold in their bond, the feelings that both of them shared emitting a warm feeling of love.

_We will. We've been through worse situations before._

_Kashyyyk doesn't count. We were forced into that situation_

_And yet, you still led us into a pack of kinrath. _Bastila retorted, crossing her arms as best she could between the two of them. Outside, the rapidly fading daylight was lit ablaze with illumination flares. Turning their attention back towards the shuttles, Revan and Bastila found themselves standing before a Sith force of at least a hundred troops. With their blasters held close to their chest, heading towards the building.

"Check that building! They're probably hiding in there!" They heard the troop's commander say, his voice audible over the growing noise of the troops entering the building.

_Shall we?_ Revan asked, taking his lightsaber into his hand.

_Let's _Was Bastila's response, her own Jedi weapon held firmly in her hands. Beneath them, the sounds of boots marching up stairs flooded the room with a montage of sound. As the door to the room began wobbling on its hinges, the two Jedi activated their weapons and waited.

* * *

><p>There was blaster fire, the mere sound of it echoing across the dead world at a furious pace. And then, like a ghost, the entire world fell back into silence, a god-awful sound that filled the remaining troops with dread.<p>

"Corporal, report!" The commander yelled, turning his attention towards the communications expert beside him. Hearing the static from the comlink, he knew something was wrong. His answer came with the sound of a helmet rolling out of the building and coming to a stop at his feet. Raising his head, he never saw the yellow-blade until it was too late to stop it.

Ducking underneath rapid blasts of blaster-fire, Bastila brought her saber up just in time to block a soldier's vibro-blade as it came crashing down towards her head. Around her, she relied on the Force to guide her motions. Her saber became nothing more than a blur in her hands. Off to her right, she could sense Revan through their bond, fighting off a small group of troops armed with a combination of vibro-blade and blaster rifles. Knowing that he was in complete control of the situation, Bastila left Revan to finish off his opponents.

"_You stupid Jedi schutta!" _ Someone yelled behind her yelled. Spinning around, Bastila found herself face-to-chest with a Sith trooper. Bringing her saber up to block the piece of lead-pipe that the trooper was wielding in absence of a vibro-blade, Bastila watched as the trooper was sent spiraling back a few feet, eventually coming to a stop atop of pile of wreckage. Letting a small grin grace her face, she rapidly turned her attention back to Revan. He had defeated most of the troops that had been near him, and he was now rapidly deflecting a few stray blaster bolts that came flying out from behind the shuttles.

_I think we've got this under a some-what degree of control _She said through the bond, standing back-to-back with Revan now, her lightsaber still lit in her hands. Deflecting a few shots that had come flying in, focusing on her, Bastila found herself breathing heavily with exhaustion. The battle had been going on for longer than her mind had registered. She had been so focused on staying alive that everything else around her, save for Revan, had been yielded unimportant.

_I would say so. Although if HK was still active, this would have been wrapped up within minutes. _Revan responded, sweat start to roll down his face.

_You and your blasted plaything _Was Bastila's response at she continued to hold her saber in a defensive stance. The Sith troops had learned quickly that they weren't going to defeat the both of them in hand-to-hand combat, and with this information in mind, the troops had retreated behind the cover of the shuttles.

_Yeah, well that "plaything" has saved us a couple of times. _Deflecting a few more shots, Bastila could see that some of the troops were attempting to move in closer towards their targets, and as even more shots were fired, she easily deflected them back towards their originators.

_I'm not denying that. All I'm saying is that there are times you pay more attention to that machine than you do me. _An fragmentation grenade exploded off to their far right, the weapon itself too far out of range to do any serious damage, but the sound and light from it still being enough to make the two Jedi to momentarily shift their attention away from the battle that surrounded them.

_Ah, so it's nothing more than jealousy? _Revan asked, using the Force to fling back a thermal detonator that had sprung into the air in front of him. Watching it explode on-top of one of the shuttle's wings, Revan grabbed Bastila by the waist and threw them onto the ground, both of their sabers deactivating in the process. As bits and pieces of wreckage and shrapnel rained down on them, Bastila found the need to ask '_why_' disappear.

All around them, there was nothing but smoke and the combined smell of melted durasteel and burning flesh filled the air. Coughing, Bastila could barely see her hand in front of her face.

"Hands up Jedi!" One of the troops said, standing above them with his blaster rifle aimed at their heads. Shoving a few large pieces of shrapnel off of his legs, Revan slowly returned to his feet, helping Bastila in the process. More of the troops were slowly approaching behind the one who now stood before them. Looking at Bastila, he noticed a small amount of fear in her eyes. Grabbing her hand, Revan smiled slightly at her. She didn't return it.

"You know, after what you've unleashed on my men, I don't think you're even worth the effort of transporting to the Captain." The soldier said, wearing a insignia of rank on his shoulder. He chucked a bit under his breath. "I think I'll just kill you here and save my men another pile of paperwork." The troops behind him echoed the laughter, a few removing their helmets to allow a small breeze of fresh air to flow against their faces.

"Hey, you wanna kill someone, then kill me. But leave her out of this." Revan replied, his voice lined with a small thin veil of anger. Looking back at him, the Sith commander laughed, and the rest of his men quickly followed suite.

"Nope, I think even keeping _one_ of you alive is out of the question. So why don't you just stand there, and say your final goodbyes." The commander replied, powering up his blaster rifle for the most lethel blast that was possible with such a weapon.

Closing her eyes, Bastila waited for the blast to hit her, shredding any inch of life in her body away from her. She had watched her old master do the same, although his death had been from old age. She had wanted to cry over him, but had kept her emotions in check, like a true Jedi apprentice. Now, she didn't care who was here to see it. As a small stream of tears began to fall down her cheek, the soldier aimed his blaster rifle.

He never got the chance to pull the trigger, his own body erupting in a flash of light and sound. Opening her eyes, Bastila found the ground engulfed in the shadow of something overhead. Raising her head, she felt an overwhelming sense of relief as she looked upon the _Ebon Hawk's_ hull. As the other troops aimed and fired at the ship, the auto-turrets that lay underneath the cockpit returned fire, with more precision that any training a boot camp could offer.

"T3!" Revan shouted, smiling as the droid beeped an affirmative response in the comlink that he had forgotten he had been carrying. Seeing the loading ramp opening, Revan looked at the woman standing next to him. The villagers had to get onboard, and landing the ship now inside the fire-fight was too much of a risk. Not to mention that they might not have time to get the ship off the ground.

"Bastila, get on the ship." He said calmly, sounding as if he was saying hello to an old friend that he had just spotted in some local cantina. She looked at him, her eyes tinted with a questioning gaze.

"What?" She asked, ducking as a blaster bolt zoomed over-head. The _Hawk _responded by hurling a volley of blaster fire back at the source. Hearing a yell, Bastila knew that the bolts had met their target. Still, as the ship continued to hover overhead, maintaining a steady distance from the ground, blaster bolts continued to hurl towards the hull.

"Get on the ship, I'm going back for the villagers. I'll lead them over here, and I'll lift them up to you."

"But…" Bastila started before Revan held a finger up to interrupt her.

"If one of us gets killed, I'd rather it be me than you." He said, a stem of concern circling through his eyes. Looking into those eyes, Bastila sighed, and frowned back at him.

"I _hate_ it when you're right in doing something so foolish."

"It's a dangerous life, but someone's got to live it." Revan responded, kissing her on the lips before stepping away from her. She looked at him once last time, and then jumped up onto the hovering ship's loading ramp. Looking down at him, Bastila saw him give her a quick salute before making back to the building where she had hidden the villagers away.

The remaining Sith forces continued to fire at the _Ebon Hawk_, most of their shots ricocheting off the hull. T3 held the ship at a steady height, occasionally turning it slightly to adjust his return fire at the enemy troops. Staying in a crouched position on the loading ramp, Bastila continued to watch across the barren landscape, occasionally ducking as a stray blaster shot zoomed overhead. Across the wreckage, Revan emerged with one or two villagers in tow. Upon seeing him, the Sith troops began to re-direct their fire at Revan, who in turn activated his saber and deflected the shots back towards their originators.

"T3, keep the ship steady!" Bastila yelled into the deeper bowls of the _Hawk_, a slight wind kicking up part of her hair. As the two villagers reached the area underneath the ramp, Bastila lowered her arm down to them in order to help pull them up. Amongst T3's response fire, Revan continued to deflect an endless stream of blaster bolts. As she pulled the last villager on-board, Bastila watched for a moment as they ran into the garage area of the ship before she turned back to Revan.

"How many more?" She yelled down to him, her voice straining to be heard over the sounds of battle.

"Only ten more!" he responded before turning and running back to the building. Sighing, Bastila uttered a few curse words that even a Hutt would find too obscene.

* * *

><p>With the last of the outcasts on-board, Bastila moved back as Revan jumped up onto the loading ramp. Smiling slightly at her, Revan lead the rush to the cockpit as the loading ramp closed behind himself and Bastila. The only thing left to do was get out of the system.<p>

Passing the security room, Bastila noticed the orange-colored shell of HK-47. Her mind and body still full of adrenaline from the battle, she let the sight slip out of her mind. Strapping herself into the co-pilot's seat, she immediatly shifted her focus onto switching the sensors back into their normal functions.

"Alright, let's get out here!" Revan said, maneuvering the ship into the atmosphere once again. Firing the engines into their max settings, Revan could feel his body being pushed back into the seat as the _Hawk _began to rapidly pick up speed. As the storm clouds began to disappear from sight, another and equally unsettling sight came into view.

"Good to know that our friends didn't get up and leave us." Revan said, although the joke lacked any emotion. Out of her seat, Bastila was already inserting the hyperspace coordinates into the galaxy map. Her entire body was slowly draining out of its adrenaline rush, and she felt sore and cold, the cold most likely due to the wet, filthy clothes that clung to her body.

"We should be able to enter hyperspace in a few minutes." She said, quickly returning to her seat as a few ion cannon blasts began zooming past the cockpit. Revan threw the ship into a sharp turn, nearly causing Bastila to fall out of her seat. Quickly steadying herself, she gave a quick, silent glare at Revan before strapping herself back into the seat. The cold that she had started feeling earlier was much stronger now, and she hoped that she wouldn't come down with anything disease.

The Sith Battle Cruiser was moving swiftly into an indicator course, and Bastila silently wished that the hyperdrive would finish its calculations. Less than five seconds after the thought had crossed her mind, the small button beneath the galaxy map glowed blue, signaling that it was ready. Revan noticed it, and swung the ship away from the cruiser, and towards open space. Pushing down on the lever, Bastila watched as the stars became lines, and the ship exploded into hyperspace.

* * *

><p>She sighed in relief, and leaned back into the seat. Revan did the same, rubbing the sweat off of his face with the back of his palm. Both of them were exhausted, and it showed in their body actions and their expressions. Behind them T3 beeped a question about what to do with the villagers.<p>

"Just put them in the cargo hold." Bastila replied without even raising her head. Her mind was screaming out for sleep, and a warm trip to the refresher, along with a change of clothes. She longed to return to Dantooine, just for the peace and quiet that the planet offered. Both of them could use that.

"Don't look at me T3, you heard what she said." Revan said, turning his head to look at the droid that had remained in the doorway, despite what Bastila had said. The droid still had trouble accepting that Bastila was now one of his owners, and he still only followed Revan's commands. HK was the same way, although Bastila wasn't even sure if she wanted that murderous droid to follow her instructions.

The droid beeped an affirmative and quickly rolled out of the cockpit towards where the villagers had gathered. Over-hearing some of their conversations, both Revan and Bastila couldn't help but let smiles creep onto their faces. Although the mission had gone completely wrong, they still had helped save the lives of a people who were now some of the only survivors of their race. The Tarisian people were now scattered, their planet all but destroyed, and their very way of life changed.

"Well, what are we going to do now?" Bastila asked, un-tying her hair from the pony-tail that it had been hastily arranged into. Looking up at her, Revan could feel nothing but the warm 'feeling' love emanating from her.

"Go to bed. For a week."

"Sounds good." Bastila responded, a devilish smile etched on her face.

"I meant sleeping."

"Wanna bet?"


	8. A Ripple Set In Motion

**And we're back! :)**

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, KOTOR, or anything pertaining to Lucasarts or George Lucas.

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><p><strong><span>Chapter 8<span>**

"I'm not begging, Master Vandar, I'm merely suggesting it. I really think she could use some time away from everything."

"Indeed, you make a compelling argument, Revan." Master Vandar said, moving along the court-yard on his small repulsor chair. Beside him, Revan continued to walk at a calm pace. The mission to Taris that had occurred less than two weeks ago had been considered a success by the Jedi Council, although Vrook, as usual, had nitpicked over every single detail. In private, Vima Sunrider had congratulated the two, Bastila especially. And yet, Bastila had found no pride in any of the praise that the two of them had recieved. Something was wrong, and no matter how hard she could try, she couldn't hide it from him.

"If I know her right, something inside of her isn't..._right_. It's like part of her was...destroyed when she was with Malak." Revan responded, stopping to gaze over at a partially blown-out piece of a stone wall. The temporary enclave, made out of a nearby house that had survived the Sith bombardment, despite the building itself being close to the original enclave site, with minimal damage. The owners had donated use of their home to the displaced Jedi, despite the strong anti-Jedi sentiment that was quickly becoming common place among the other settlers.

"A strong blow to her pride." Vandar said quietly, stopping his repulsor chair beside Revan. "Pain. That is the emotion you sense. Inside, young Bastila is full of pain, pain that is beyond her years." Vandar met Revan's eyes."What Malak did to her was not a physical thing, but an emotional one."

"He preyed on her fears, her thoughts, memories, anything that he could use against her, he found it and put it to use."

"Malak was twisted by the Dark Side. Anyone is possible of such things, that ability lies within all of us." Vandar replied, his vision now focused on the rapidly setting sun. "It exists within you, myself, Bastila, just as it existed within Malak. We all have the choice whether to use that evil, and Malak had made his choice long ago."

"I shouldn't have left her." Revan said, leaning his hands against the wall, and letting some of his hair drop down and cover his eyes. "I could have fought Malak with her. It could have ended right then and there."

"The blame is not yours. You did what you felt was right. And now the galaxy is safe because of it."

"But _I'm _the one who fell, _I'm _the one who led Malak back to the Republic. Without me, everything would be fine."

"Would, could, all of these are past tenses. There is only one thing you can do now. And that is to move forward. Right what you have wronged." The air grew silent, and Revan began to lose himself in a wave of thoughts. The mere imagined sight of Bastila being tortured, mentally, emotionally, and physically, by Malak, he found that all his words became trapped inside his throat.

"Good gods..." He finally said, the horror in his voice entering Vandar's ears.

"To hold onto one's sanity during torture requires great belief and strength. To believe in something so strongly that it overwhelms all emotions, is a truely rare thing." Vandar said, his gaze now looking towards the rapidly setting sun.

"Love." Revan turned around to face the aging Jedi Master. "She held onto the love that we share."

"Ah, a strong emotion indeed."

"I know the Jedi Code forbids us to love but..."

"Forbids? No, expresses discouragement against it, yes."

"But Bastila said..."

"An interptation of the line itself. But wrong, never the less. In fact, one of the most powerful knights in the Order was born from love. Vima Sunrider."

"I think she should be allowed to take a leave of absence from the Jedi Order." Revan said, changing the subject in one swift move.

"It is not my approval you should seek, it is the Council's." Vandar replied, staring at the Jedi Knight in front of him.

"But it's you, along with Master Nomi, that are the heads of the Council." Revan retorted, turning to face Vandar. The Jedi Master was silent for a moment, his eyes focusing on something unseen by the man before him

"So be it. Your wish is to be granted." He finally said, bowing his head slightly.

"Thank you Master Vandar." Revan responded, bowing his own head in response to Vandar's action. Turning away, Revan began his walk back to the _Ebon Hawk._ The only question that still lay in his mind was…._where_? Where would the two of them go? There had to be some place that was as far away from this state of mind as one could possibly get. The simple question was _where._

* * *

><p>Everything was silent inside the <em>Ebon Hawk<em>, so quite that you could have heard a bolt drop out of place somewhere deep within the bowls of the ship. Her eyes closed tight, Bastila tried once again to clear her mind of all thoughts.

"Blast it all!" she said loudly as she failed once again. Returning to her feet, she ran a hand over her eyes. She could feel another headache coming on, and she wasn't thrilled about it. Dragging herself over towards the bed, she sighed as her head hit the pillow. _This used to be so easy..._

_Everything used to be easier._

Nothing had been the same since...since before the war. No fear of constant attack, no sense of anger flowing through the air...and everyone had obeyed the Council with blind devotion.

"Bastila?" Revan's voice echoed through the ship until it found its way into the room. Lifting her head off of the pillow, Bastila swung her legs over the side of the bed.

"In here, Revan." She replied, and the sound of a pair of footsteps began to flow through the air. Finally, they stopped and Revan peeked his head in through the doorway, his body following.

"Anything new?" Bastila asked, tying her hair back into a ponytail in the process. Entering the room, Revan took a seat next to her on the bed. Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, he smiled.

"How would you like to take a vacation to Talravin?"

"What?"

"You, me, Talravin. A night with some good Tarisian ale?"

"Once again, _what_?"

"I managed to get us some time away from the Order."

"You did _what?" _Bastila said. The very idea that Revan had gone behind her back, and had her forced into a leave of absence…it was _unsettling _to say the very least. She had neither asked nor wanted this, and yet, in typical fashion, he had done it anyway.

"I got us some time away from the Order. I don't see what you're so mad about." Revan responded. Against the wall opposite of them, a small lamp lifted up off of its stand, obviously being levitated by Bastila, although whether it was being done purposely Revan didn't know.

"Mad? _Mad? Whatever_ would give you that idea?" She responded, this time letting her voice grow louder. As she stood up, the lamp slammed into the wall with powerful force, enough to make Revan jump slightly as the glass landed on the floor.

"Bas, calm down! It's alright!" This time he said the words through both his mouth and through the bond. Looking into his eyes, Bastila felt a mixture of both anger and fear. She knew the influence that he could have on her mind, and that had always made her just a little bit nervous. Slowly, she felt a calming effect flow through her body, and her anger subsided just a little.

"Just…tell me, _why?_" She finally said, closing her eyes in an attempt to meditate the remaining anger out of her system. Slowly walking across the room, Revan looked down at her, noticing through the bond that her thoughts were erratic, a true sign that she was angry. He smiled slightly at the observation, remembering fondly some of the times that he had cause her to become that way.

"Bastila, look at yourself. You just destroyed something using the Force, just because someone did something for you. You're frustrated over something, and don't think I don't know what it is."

"Then tell me what it is, because I'm afraid I haven't the _faintest_ clue what you're talking about."

"Bas, just _talk _to me." Revan replied, standing up and placing his hands on her shoulders. "What did he do to you?"

"How can you stand there and ask me that?" She said, pushing his hands away and back away, holding back tears. "_You_ of all people have _no _right."

"You damn right I haven't, I _saved _you from the Dark Side, I think I deserve to know!"

"Then why don't you reach into my mind using the Bond, and rip the information out of me?"

"Because I'm not like Malak. I...I care too much about you."

"There's no use in trying to hide anything from you." Bastila replied, sighing before-hand. Opening her eyes, Revan saw that there were tears beginning to line her eyelids. _Damn it, I hate to see her cry._

"Hey, Bas, it's ok. I'm not going to _ever_ judge you. "

"That's one everyone says. And they've _never _meant it." Bastila said, a few tears escaping from her eye and falling down her cheek at a slow pace.

"I'm not everyone else. We're connected, in more ways than one." Revan replied, taking her into a loving embrace. Both of them remained silent, simply holding each other.

"What did he do to you?"

"He _hurt_ me." She said, her voice now barely nothing more than a whisper.

"Physically or Emotionally?"

"Both. He started with with the physical stuff, and then he started forcing his way into my mind." More tears flowed down her cheek. "He knew _everything._ About the Order, about our mission,_ us_. I couldn't hide anything."

"And he used it against you." Gently, Bastila nodded.

"He forced me to see... images. Images of you in pain, _dying. _It killed me inside."

"And because you couldn't feel me through our bond, you thought I _had_ died. That somehow what Malak was showing you was real." Again, she nodded.

"He made me believe that you were dead. And then, I saw no point in continuing on the path I was on. I pledged myself to him. And then, you came back."

"And you tried to get me to join you. I _remember_ this part." Revan replied with a little bit of sarcasm.

"I'm sorry." Bastila gave as her answer, her tears still showing no sign of stopping. "I can barely live with knowing that I almost killing you. I wake up wanting to _die_."

"I forgive you. When I think of how I almost lost you, it tears me up inside." Burying her head into Revan's shoulder, she slowly began to stop crying. Stepping back, he looked into her eyes, and wipped a few of her remaining tears out of her face. "If you were dead, I would be just as dead. I would be nothing more than an empty shell. I love you."

"I know." She replied, reaching in to kiss him. Returning it, the two of them silently stood there, passionately kissing each other for what seemed like hours. Reaching out with her hand, Bastila used the Force to flick the lights to the room off as both she and Revan fell backwards onto the bed.

* * *

><p>As the <em>Ebon Hawk <em>appeared out of hyperspace, Revan could sense the mild anticipation that had quietly erupted inside Bastila's mind. It had taken them only a few days of hyperspace travel to reach Talravin, and now that they were here, he could see that the planet below them was a strange mixture of both desert and cities. It looked much like Tatooine had looked like from above, and he wondered how many planets there were that looked alike.

"Talravin. It's been so long that I'd almost forgotten what it looked like." Bastila said, staring at the planet below them. She had remained almost entirely silent during the entire trip, and her voice was barely nothing more than a whisper.

"Anything we should know? Like any dangerous wildlife or corporation based slavers? You know, the_ usual_ business." He responded, slowly bringing the ship closer to the planet. Before Bastila could manage a response, the _Hawk's _comlink system buzzed to life.

"Light freighter, identify yourself and state your business." A man's voice said, sounding rough and full of resentment.

"This is the _Ebon Hawk_. Simply paying a visit, no cargo except myself, a beautiful lady, and two droids." Revan replied, hoping that telling the docking attendant wouldn't throw them into harm's way. Sitting silently in the co-pilot's chair, Bastila was wishing for nearly the exact same thing.

"Proceed to docking bay twenty-four. Enjoy your visit." The man said, deactivating the comlink's connection before either of them could respond. Leaning back into his chair, Revan let out a shallow breath.

"Well, looks like we're not really well known out here." He said, maneuvering the ship down into the planet's atmosphere. "This is a pleasant first."

"I wouldn't count on it." Bastila responded, monitoring one of the ship's engine strength. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

* * *

><p><strong>Malachor V, Trayus Academy<strong>

The Force. Nothing more than a jangled mess of currents to anyone who could peer out beyond a simple minded black and white vision. A vision that both the Jedi and Sith both shared. Nothing more than an energy field that could bend any weakling to its will. A tool.

And it was _alive_

As she silently meditated in the core of a planet thriving with Dark Side energy, Darth Traya realized how much she truely _hated_ the Force. Hated how it bended others. Hated how it could end someone's life before it was truly their time. And she hated how much it revolved around all life.

Following a current in the Force was like trying to find one's way through the winding streets and alleys of Nar Shaddaa. It was complicated, like a puzzle that had baffled half the galaxy. Decades upon decades had devoted their lives to trying to fully understand it.

And decades upon decades had failed.

They had failed because they had been unable to_ see._

_Revan _

The name screamed the Force, nearly causing her ears to bleed. Opening her colorless eyes, Traya grinned slightly, not at the fact that her meditation had been interrupted, but that something had finally moved in the Force.

_A ripple has been set in motion...excellant._

"Sion" She said, both verbally and through the Force. Within minutes, her apprentice was standing before her, his cracked and bruised body made even more sinister by the dim red and green lighting of the planet's core.

"You summoned me..._Master._" He said, voicing the the final word with nothing more than pure hatred.

"Indeed I have, _Lord of Pain_. Your obedience has served you well." Traya responded, not deeming him worthy enough to look at him. She could sense that the eye that she had severed sight to still lay in his head, the skin around it rapidly decaying and part of the muscles beginning to show.

"Why?"

"All in due time. Tell me, do you know of the one who led the Jedi to war during the conflict with the Mandalorians?"

"_Revan_." The name flowed off of his tongue like a flow of liquid magma. He had watched from afar as that war had threatened to set fire to the galaxy. He had seen countless worlds burn beneath the armored warriors fleet, and then as the small group of Jedi and Republic troops had fought back against the invaders, eventually pushing them back until they had finally been torn apart in the skies above Malachor.

"Ah yes, the prodigal knight. The Revanchist, Darth Revan, all names for just one man." Traya said, her voice a mixture of resentment and respect. "And yet, in the end, he is nothing." She listened for her apprentice's response. "Nothing more than a man, warped and used by both the Light and the Dark. In the end, he is a pawn. And nothing more."

Sion offered no response, and waited for his master to continue. Around him, Malachor whispered, the seductive voices laughing at him. Ignoring them, he could feel the dark energy that surrounded the planet penetrating him and fighting him to kill all within his grasp.

"And at his side, a young woman, as equally betrayed by both the light and the dark as he is, and yet she continues to follow the way of the Jedi. She is bonded to him, in more ways than one." Traya continued, pulling the hood around her head down to her shoulders. "_Fools in love_. How ironic that one who once believed in the Jedi with such strong conviction, with such blind belief that nothing could persuade her from her path, save for _one _broken, defeated, and nameless _shell_ of a man. I'm sure that she could never have dreamed that she would fall in love with a redeemed Dark Lord of the Sith."

"Tell me what to do."

"Both of them have grown strong in the Force. Together, and underneath the Council's foolish guidance, they could easily destroy all knowledge of the Sith. The Force itself would be thrown into their favor, and the futures of millions of Force users across the galaxy, those whose paths have not yet been chosen, could be eradicated from the future of the galaxy. Together, their bond grows stronger with each passing moment. However, seperate the two of them, the bond becomes strained, eventually forming a jagged break, and then all the blocks fall into place."

"Do you wish me to kill them?" Sion asked, rising to stare at the back of his master's head.

"No. Send your minions, capture the woman. _Alive_. With her in our grasps, he will come here, to save her. His emotions will control him, and then he shall be tempted to use the dark power within him. We shall twist his mind, and then, he shall die. Along with the woman."


	9. Something In The Way She Moves

**Chapter 9**

**Talravin System**

Piloting the _Ebon Hawk _down into the docking bay, Revan could feel the tension in the air. Looking over to Bastila, he found her with her eyes closed in silent meditation. Reaching out through the bond, he could see the thread of darkness that remained from her time with Malak. It had greatly diminished since that time, but still, like a scar, it remained. Nudging her through the bond, he watched her eyes open and peer at the docking bay in front of her.

"Welcome home." Revan said, choosing not to make a grand deal about it. Gazing across the sky above them, she was silent, with an almost un-nerving quality.

"It looks…_different_ than how I remember it." Bastila responded, swifting her gaze over towards him. In her eyes, Revan saw a small glimmer of sadness. She had explained to him that her family had given her to the Order at a young age, and yet, she remembered _'flashes_' of things from when she was younger. Arguments, happiness, and fear, among other things. And whatever those things were, she hadn't told him.

"Leaving at age five will do that to you." She smiled slightly at the joke, although the subject was almost completely unnerving. Whatever she said though, he was right, her memories were only one side of the puzzle. And the masters had always said that memories deceiving, 'full of emotion' as Master Vandar had said.

"Indeed. Well, shall we leave the ship?" She replied, rising out of her seat, and stretching her legs.

"After you." Revan said, already out of his seat and offering his hand to her. She took it and both of them walked towards the loading ramp.

* * *

><p>"Welcome to Talravin, Master and Mistress, how may I help you?" The small droid said, not much bigger than a seeker drone used anywhere else in the galaxy. Looking around them, both Revan and Bastila took in the sight that was the planet. The city itself was similar to Manaan, in terms of design only, but the landscape was almost a sister of Tatooine, with the occasional patches of grass thrown into the desert.<p>

"Can you tell us about the planet?" Revan asked, turning his attention to the droid.

"Certainly! Is this your first visit to Talravin?"

"Sort of. My... friend... here was born here, but she hasn't been back for some time." Revan said, giving a nod in Bastila's direction. By now, her attention was also on the small droid, although he could sense that her mind was constantly on the edge of losing any focus. It troubled him to see her this way, and he wondered how she had managed to seem so calm on Taris. Since they had escaped, it almost seemed as if she had completely changed into another person entirely.

"In that case, welcome back to Talravin, Mistress." The droid said to Bastila, the mechanical voice attempting to show an archaic form of happiness in its voice. Looking at the droid, she smiled slightly.

"Thank you." She replied, her voice betraying the emotions that lay beneath her words.

"1-A, get away from them. _Stupid blasting droid_" Someone said, emerging from a door off to Bastila's left. Judging by the voice, Revan could tell it was the same man who had contacted them when the _Hawk _had emerged from hyperspace. As he approached, he pulled out a small remote out of his jumbled tool belt, and quickly slammed his button down on it. The droid shook for a few seconds, before it ceased to move at all.

"Sorry about that. That droid does that to everyone that docks here."

"No apologies are necessary." Bastila said, watching the droid shake back to life and float off to a secluded corner of the hanger.

"Still, I have to get around to fixing that droid. One of these days he's gonna be nice to the wrong sort of people." The man responded, wiping his hands on a dirty rag that was carried on his belt. "Now, I just need your docking fee and you can be on your way. After all, the boss gets mad if we hold up any of the visitors."

"We don't need to pay any docking fee." Bastila said, waving her hand in front of the man.

"You don't need to pay the docking fee."

"We can go about our business."

"You can go about your business." The man said, turning and walking back to the a torn apart hyperspace drive. Looking at her, Revan smiled.

"I do indeed think I'm beginning to rub off on you. That was perfect."

"We might need the credits later on. Besides, who knows how long we'll be here till something happens?" She responded, her face a mess of emotions. Still, she gave a slight smile at Revan.

"You raise a very valid point."

"Don't I always?"

* * *

><p><strong>Talravin System<strong>

**Four Days Later**

Inside the cantina, the music of the band swayed back and forth to an old Corellian wedding song, an odd choice for such a normal cantina, filled with space captains and their crews, smugglers, gangsters, and others of a somewhat similar background. Looking around, the entire scene reminded Bastila of the Lower City cantina on Taris. The lightning was almost entirely the same, and the residents were also familar in a striking way.

Sipping at her drink, Bastila hardly even noticed Revan as he slid back into the booth. As his presence through the bond filled her head, she looked up and saw him staring at her. He was smiling slightly, not entirely drunk but certainly buzzed on the numerous drinks he had ordered.

"Do you want to dance?" He asked, offering his hand to her.

"No." She offered in response, returning her gaze to her drink. Something...wasn't right. It seemed as if there was an echo on the bare edge of hearing and no matter how much effort she thrust into trying to discover it, it remained hidden. Gulping down the remainder of his drink, Revan set the glass back down onto the table.

"Why not? Don't tell me you're drunk."

"No, I am not _drunk_." She replied, giving him a quick glare, putting emphasis on the word 'drunk'. The very thought of her becoming so intoxicated that she couldn't think properly was..._laughable_ to say the least.

"Then come dance with me!" Revan said, grinning with his usual vigor.

"I said_ no_."

"Come on, you know you want to!" Finally giving in, Bastila put her drink back onto the table and took Revan's hand. Up on a poorly made stage, the band ended their current song, and without waiting for an applause, they quickly slid into a fast styled song, probably of Corellian origin also. As the rest of the crowd started to flow into the first steps of the dance, Revan and Bastila stood on the edge of the crowd.

"Ready?" He asked, the grin he had used earlier still plastered on his face. Looking up at him, Bastila didn't return the gesture.

"No." She said. Her body language showed no enthusiasm for what she and Revan were about to do.

"Come on, what's wrong? You've been a stick in the mud all night." She was quiet for a moment, as if she didn't know how to respond. And then, looking up into his eyes, she frowned.

"I don't know how to dance."

"That's good, neither do I!" Gripping her hand, Revan fell into the flow of the dance with Bastila in tow. Both of them stumbled numerous times, much to the laughter of a few patrons sitting at the bar. Finally, as both of them found the right timing, they began to blend in with the crowd. As both of them began to swing around in a circular motion, their speed growing faster and faster in order to match the music, Bastila smiled, the annoyed and depressed feeling that she had felt earlier disappearing from her mind.

"Revan, stop!" She said in a playful manner, her pony-tails slapping against the back of her neck.

"Hold on!" Revan replied, suddenly stopping the motion and falling into another step. Holding onto him, Bastila was full of nothing except laughter. Time was slowly disappearing, with neither of them noticing it. And behind them the band continued to play.

* * *

><p>As the song died down, and the most of the crowd slipped back to their drinks, Revan found himself standing immobile, unable to take his eyes off of the woman in front of him. She was still laughing, her eyes closed as she continued to emit that sweet sound. She was beautiful, and in his mind, there was no-one else in the galaxy that he wanted to spend his life with.<p>

Opening her eyes, Bastila looked back at him, her silver eyes now lined with an invisible thread of happiness. The light was thinning above them, as the cantina prepared to close down for the night. Smiling at the man before her, Bastila stood there in silence, not wanting to ruin the moment with any words.

"Want another drink?" Revan finally asked, breaking the sounds of silence between them.

"Absolutely." Wrapping her arm around his waist, Bastila followed Revan to the bar, the various patrons around them slowly walking out the door and back into the night, drifting away like spirits in the wind. Behind the bar, the owner of the bar was serving most of his customers their last drinks, with some of them already having paid for their "last" at least a few hours ago.

"Give me a bottle of Tarisian Ale, from the basement." Revan said, talking to the bartender in a calm, convincing voice that went along with affecting the mind of another. Nodding silently, the bartender pulled up a door beneath his feet that undoubtedly led to the establishment's wine-cellar. Returning a few minutes later, he blew the dust off of the bottle, which shined a little in the dim light.

"Here ya go." He said, holding out his hand for the payment of the drink. Tossing him a few coins, Revan took the bottle by the neck and walked back to the booth with Bastila in tow. This evening was going perfectly, and there wasn't anything in the galaxy that could ruin it.

* * *

><p><strong>Malachor V, Trayus Academy<strong>

Hate. Such a powerful emotion. It could make or break a being, impower him or make him nothing more than a shell of his former self. His eyes closed in concentration, Sion could feel the power of Malachor coursing through his veins as he drew more of it into his cracked and aged body. He should have been dead years ago, and yet, here he was. Stronger than any Jedi could possibly hope to become.

"I did not summon you." He said, his voice breaking through the almost stale air of Malachor's core. In front of him, one of the countless Sith assassins stood, the sound of the ancient Sith langauge responding to him.

"Put him on." In the silence, the assassin pulled out the hologram reciever, and clicking a small button on the side, the blue form of yet another assassin appeared.

"My lord." He said, bowing in the process.

"What have you found?" Sion asked, starring at the hologram in front of him. His assassins had been following the Jedi for days now, almost hours after they had landed on Talravin. The Jedi had shown no signs of knowing that they were being followed, and yet, Sion could sense the uneasiness within his minions, even at this great distance away from the planet.

"We think we've found the perfect opportunity to strike. We are simply awaiting your command."

"Act. Remember, the woman is to be taken alive. Hurt the man, make him feel true pain, but leave him alive."

"Yes my lord. We hear and obey." The hologram said as it faded out as the signal ended. Closing his remaining eye, Sion focused on the power of the planet around him. He could feel it circling around in every corner of his body, binding his crumbling body together, as it had for many years now.

"Your minions are too confident." He heard Traya say as she emerged on the stone walkway to the planet core.

"They will not fail us."

"You place so much faith in them. An insult it must be to you whenever they fail."

"How _dare_ you speak to me of such things." Sion replied, pulling his lightsaber off of his belt, and gripping it in his hand. "We may obey you, but I still have enough power to crush you beneath my feet."

"Do you _really_?" Kreia answered, stopping a few feet in front of him. "Do you really think that your hatred, the sole thing holding your body together is truely _power_? You fail to understand what true power is. Would you like me to show you what the power you speak of is in reality? You will see that it is nothing but a figment of your imagination."

"Leave me." She said, stepping past her apprentice and kneeling down in the center of the planet's Core. Glancing at her, Sion began the walk down the stone pathway, his lightsaber still gripped in his hand.

* * *

><p><strong>Talravin System, Carrick Hotel<strong>

Closing the door behind them, Revan couldn't help but laugh as the scene played over again in his mind, as disorganized as it was at the moment. What had that Sith soldier said on Taris? That Tarisian Ale had a nasty kick to it? Well, to two Jedi, it was quite possibly nothing.

"Revan, will you dance with me again?" Bastila asked, stumbling across the room in a haze, eventually landing on the small couch that lay in the center of the room. _Ok, maybe that soldier was right about the Ale._ Revan thought to himself as he walked over to the couch.

"Bas, we can't, you're drunk."

"I most certainly… am not!" She replied, pausing in between words as if she had forgotten momentarily what she was going to say.

"No, you are. You can't even walk properly."

"Neither can you!" She did have a point, which Revan ended the conversation on. Seeing HK-47 standing on stand-by in the corner of the room, he knew that it really didn't matter what happened now. The droid, as blood-thirsty as it was, could probably handle things on its own.

"Ok, really, maybe you should sleep. It'll probably help your system…Bas?" Revan said, looking down at Bastila, who had passed out on the couch, and was now quietly sleeping. Looking around, the room was spinning, and sitting down into a chair that was close by, Revan found himself succumbing to the effects of the Ale. Closing his eyes, he let his body fall into an alcohol-induced sleep.


	10. Tarisian Hangover

**Alright, before we get into the next chapter, I believe some thanks are in order. Thanks to Boris Yeltsin and JourneyRocks13 for reviewing every chapter so far. *Hug* **

**And also, this one is a little shorter, but I blame school, since finals are taking up most of my time. **

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 10<strong>

**Talravin System, Carrick Hotel**

The entire room was dark, which was an utter contrast to how the room had appeared earlier in the day. And yet, the assassin continued on, using his meager abilities in the Force to help him see what his eyes failed to. His mission was simple enough, capture this Jedi woman that the master wanted, and then return back to Malachor. And yet, he felt an uneasiness inside himself, as if something was going to go terribly wrong…

As he crossed the room, he made sure that his footsteps left no audible sound. He had been trained for missions such as this, and everything seemed to be going according to plan.

"Mocking Statement: It seems that your stealth skills are terribly out of date." HK said, his orange photoreceptors glowing in the dark lighting of the room. "Threat: Make even one move towards the Master and I shall enjoy watching your insides being splattered across the surrounding walls."

The assassin dove to the floor, narrowly dodging the first bolt from HK-47's rifle. Off to his right, he could hear the two Jedi slowly waking up, probably still suffering the side effects of all the drinks they had had at the cantina. Pulling the Force pike off of his belt, he dove beneath a nearby counter. HK-47 continued firing at him, showing no concern for what the other guests in the hotel might think at the sound of blaster fire echoing through the room.

"HK, what's going on?" Revan asked, jumping to his feet as fast as his body would let him. His lightsaber was in his hands as he switched on the lights to the room. Beside him, Bastila was moving to her feet, although her body and her mind were still slugish due to the Tarisian Ale. Silently reminding herself never to drink alcohol again, she withdrew her lightsaber from her belt, igniting it's yellow blade in the process.

"Answer: An assassin had infiltrated the room. Mocking Statement: I can't wait to fire the remaining rounds from my rifle into his vital organs." The droid answered, firing a few more rounds at the counter that lay between the living room and the kitchen.

"HK, cease fire!" Revan shouted, igniting his lightsaber and taking a step towards the kitchen. Behind him, Bastila moved a few feet, leaning onto the couch to help her wobbling legs. HK had obeyed, but his blaster rifle remained aimed in his hands, his circuits itching for another chance to fire.

He soon had the chance, as the assassin dove over the counter, his Force pike raised and looking to come down onto Revan's arm. Revan dodged the attack, and responded by slamming his lightsaber hilt down onto the back of the man's head. He dropped onto the floor, not moving, although Revan could sense that he was still alive.

"Well, it seems you're prediction that something would happen was right." Revan said to Bastila, noticing that she was gripping her head in her hands.

"_Uggghhhh_." Was all that she said, slowly falling down to sit on the floor. Rushing over to her, Revan knelt down beside her, unsure of what was going on.

"Bas, you alright?"

_Do I look alright to you? _She sent out through the bond, the frustration and pain in her voice audible to Revan.

"Guess that you've never had Tarisian Ale before."

_Good guess. You win a year's supply of Astromech droid parts._ Revan smiled slightly at the joke before turning his attention back to the incapacitated assassin lying on the floor off to his right. HK was towering over the body, his rifle trained and ready to fire in case if more assassins were lying in wait. Turning the man over, Revan was surprised to find that he was already waking up, despite the hard blow that he had received when Revan had hit him with his lightsaber.

"Who sent you?" Revan asked, holding the man up by his robes that surrounded his chest. Staring into Revan's eyes, the assassin's eyes betrayed none of his thoughts.

"The master….I've failed." His voice was weak, as if all of his strenght was steadily draining from his body.

"Who's your master, where is he?" Inside him, Revan's mind was screaming for answers, wishing that one would arise from the bottom of his memories. And yet, it refused to come.

"Malachor." Was all the assassin said, as his head flew back, and Revan felt the dark presence leave the room, as if the thing that had been controlling the man before him had forced its way out of his body. Checking his vital signs, Revan let the man's body fall to the floor. Whoever this would-be assassin was, he was dead now.

"HK, get T3 on the comlink. Tell him to prepare the ship. We're leaving." Giving an acknowledgment, HK tapped a small button on his 'wrist' and within seconds, he began issuing orders to T3. Turning his attention back towards Bastila, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Reaching into her mind through the bond, he tried to give her whatever comfort he could offer.

* * *

><p>Approaching the <em>Ebon Hawk<em>, Revan was relieved to see that the ship had been untouched, knowing that if there had been more than one assassin, they surely would have disabled their targets' route of escape before they had gone in for the kill. With HK walking behind him, Revan continued towards the loading ramp, with Bastila leaning on him for support. Although Revan had shrugged off the effects of the drink, Bastila was largely unable to stand up without suffering massive amounts of pain that would cycle through her head within seconds.

"T3, is the ship ready?" He shouted out, seeing the droid at the top of the ramp. The Astromech droid beeped an affirmative and rolled back towards the cockpit. Looking beside him, Revan saw that Bastila's eyes were indeed almost bloodshot, the first sure fire sign of a hangover. He had suffered them before, but in time his system had built up an almost 'immunity' to may systems' versions of alcohol.

"Easy Bas, just relax. Trust me, with a good amount of sleep, you'll be back to your old self in no-time."

"Easy for you to say." She responded under her breath, looking down at her feet to insure that she wouldn't fall. Helping her up the ramp, Revan walked her over to one of the chairs in the main hold of the ship.

"Just take it easy. Me and T3 will handle getting out of here." He said, turning his attention to HK. "HK, watch her. We don't know how many assassins are still out there."

"Affirmative Statement: Yes Master. I do indeed hope there are more, my circuits have developed an 'itch', as you organic meatbags call it, and they are begging for more blood to be shed."

Ignoring the droid, Revan ran to the cockpit, where T3 had already finished the pre-flight checklist, and was now warming up the engines. Leaning back into her seat, Bastila closed her eyes and tried to use the Force to make her headache subside. It worked partially, although whatever parts of the headache were dampened by the Force were quickly replaced from the amount of concentration that it required.

_I'm never going to drink anything Revan orders for me again._

* * *

><p><strong>Malachor V, Trayus Academy<strong>

"Your minions have failed, Sion. And in turn, you have failed me." Traya said, gripping Sion's throat through the Force. The Lord of Pain did nothing, offering no excuse or resistance. She admired that, however foolish it may have been to have trusted him in the first place. For that, she blamed herself.

"And now, thanks to your minion's incompetence, the Jedi now know exactly where we are."

"Kill me then. End all of this. Make me_ suffer_ for my failure." Sion said, struggling to voice the words through the choke hold he was now in.

"No. There would be nothing to gain from your death, only a momentary sense of satisfaction, and then I would be left with nothing." Traya responded, dropping her apprentice from her grip. As his body slammed down to the stone floor beneath him, Sion could feel a bone break and then quickly put itself back together. The pain was momentary, and then it was gone. Absorbed back into his own being.

"They will come here, and they will still be forced to understand, just as you were. And then, when they are completely broken, they shall understand their place in the galaxy."

As he left the planet core, Traya found the 'voice' of Malachor speaking directly to her, demanding that she give into it. Ignoring it, she followed the current in the Force, as she had done before, when the first ripple had screamed its way out through the Force.

* * *

><p><strong>Hyperspace Route, Somewhere between Talravin &amp; Malachor V<strong>

Watching her sleep peacefully, Revan couldn't turn away. Every inch of her face was a holotext example of beauty, and he watched as she mumbled in her sleep. Turning back to the exposed circuitry, he welded two pieces of wire together, while beside him T3 quietly beeped a question regarding the operation.

"Yes T3, I know. Why don't you go check the computers in the security room?" The droid quickly answered the question, although not in the way Revan had expected.

"No, I'm fine. What do you mean, 'I'm not all there?'" Not answering the question, T3 rolled off in the direction of the security room. Sighing, Revan sat the welder down on the floor, and closed his eyes. Things had changed so much in the past five months. The war, Taris, The Star Maps, the love that he and Bastila had found….finding out who _he_ really was. They all seemed to blur together into a massive piece of artwork that he would have most likely been seen somewhere in a museum on Coruscant.

Hearing Bastila moving in her chair, he looked up to see how she was doing. He could sense that most of her headache had subsided hours ago, but he knew how any type of drink would leave a lingering feeling of confusion. Getting up onto his feet, he watched her for a few seconds before he saw her eyes flicker open before they were shut once again, accompanied by a quiet groan. Making his way across the floor, he found a place next to her, and smiled as her silver eyes stared back at him.

"Good morning, sleep well?" He asked sarcastically as she rubbed one of her eyes with the back of her palm.

"Hardly. Remind me never to drink anything you order ever again."

"Got it. Still, at least we're both still alive. That assassin could have easily gotten us. We're luck that HK managed to get him before he could hurt you."

"And what about you?" She asked, by now standing on her feet, and in front of him.

"What do you mean?"

"You're saying that I'm the only one who could have gotten hurt? What about you, you're not invincible." Her eyes flickering on him, she looked at him with a look that silently said _'You're being overprotective again'. "_In reality, you're just as likely to get hurt as I am."

"No, I'm saying that it doesn't matter if I get hurt." _Frack, that didn't come out right..._"You're all that matters."

"So, you have no sense of personal worth now?" She replied, pulling herself up into a sitting position.

"No, why would you say that?"

"Because you're doing it right now... _damn it_!" She shouted, her hands covering her eyes as a small wave of pain coursed through her brain. Looking at her, Revan found himself finding no response to her question, not evening knowing why he no longer cared if he lived or if he died. All that mattered was _her_.

"Because….because you're all that matters to me anymore. If you were gone, I wouldn't _want_ to go on. I'd probably throw myself into a hungry pack of rancors rather than spend the rest of my life living without you." She was silent, offering no response, much like Revan had done moments before. Both of them stared at each other, the only sounds passing between them being the sound of their breathing.

"You…you truly mean that don't you? You love me so much that... you would rather die than live without me."

"I do."

"I…" Bastila started before Revan leaned down and kissed her. Gradually returning it, she wrapped her arms around his neck. They laid there, the time meaningless, silently enveloped in each other's touch, each feeling the Force flowing through the other. The bond was 'aglow' with light, a combination of love and understanding. All sound around them became mute, as neither of them allowed their minds to deter from the act that they were now engaged in.


	11. Realizations

**Ok, sorry for the long wait in between chapters. The final weeks of school were really hectic, so I literally didn't write anything at all for a few weeks. But now since Summer is here, I will certainly being getting everything up to date!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own KOTOR or Star Wars, they are the property of George Lucas and Lucasarts.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 11<strong>

**Skies Above Malachor V**

As the _Ebon Hawk _exited hyperspace, the first thing they noticed was the amount of gravitational pull there was surrounding the planet. Huge waves of electricity flowed in and around the planet, causing a natural green and white light to surround the planet. Around the ship were the floating ruins of the once proud fleets of the Mandalorian and Republic armies. They had remained where they had been destroyed, their gaping hulls open to the confines of space.

Bastila had heard the stories, how all ships surrounding the planet had been destroyed within a matter of minutes. She remembered the looks on the faces of those that had survived. Many had been traumatized for life because of what had occurred. To witness planetary destruction on such a grand scale...it was _unsettling_ to say the least.

But nothing had prepared her for this, and her reaction was similar to how it had been on Taris… A mix of horror, amazement, and shock.

"This is where it happened. I defeated Mandalore here." Revan said quietly, as if more memories were slowly flowing through his mind. Reaching out through the bond, Bastila tried to comfort him. If it worked, she saw no sign of it in any of his emotions. He remained utterly motionless in the pilot's chair, his eyes focused on something that she couldn't see.

"Revan, are you sure that we shouldn't contact Carth and have him bring in the fleet?"

"No, if we do that we'll have no option of ending this quietly." He responded, slowly edging the _Ebon Hawk_ in towards the planet. He was careful to avoid bumping any of the wreckage that lay between the ship and the planet itself. The entire area was a grave-yard and they treated it as such.

"Bas, there's something off to our right. Can you see what it is?" He asked, stopping the _Hawk _in mid-space, with most of the hull hidden behind the wreckage of a partially destroyed Mandalorian cruiser. Flicking her attention to the outboard scanners, Bastila looked at the blue and white screen until she found the object Revan had referred to.

"Found it. It's…some kind of a landing beacon."

"They know we're here."

"Well, at least we won't have to sneak around." She responded, although the joke lacked any emotion. Although the headache that she had received from the Tarisian Ale was gone, Bastila's attention was still being mildly affected by the drink. She had done her best to 'heal' the effect, although she had found it to be fruitless to an extent.

That was when the proximity alarm began going off.

"What is it? What's going on?" She asked, looking up to see Revan pulling the _Hawk _out from behind the Mandalorian cruiser just before the first array of turbolasers opened up on the wreckage. Covering her eyes from the near-blinding flash of light, Bastila felt her body slam back into her seat as the ship flew in-between the wreckage at top speed.

"Revan, what in blazes are you doing?" She shouted, buckling herself into the co-pilot's seat. At opposing sides of the ship, there were bright flashes, signaling more instances of turbolasers striking against the remnants of abandoned ships. From behind her, she could hear T3 give the droid equivalent of a scream. As Revan threw the ship into a barrel roll, Bastila could feel the insides of her stomach rolling along with the rest of the ship.

"Saving our skins." He replied, quickly pulling the ship out of the barrel roll and then making a quick left turn. And that was when they got the first glance at the ship that was so determined to destroy them. It was partially destroyed itself, and it was a wonder how it was still space-worthy. A massive form of dark side energy surrounded the entire ship.

"Well, its nice to see that the welcoming party is already here. And they're so _friendly_."

"Got any plans?"

"Head down to the planet?" She responded, looking down at the proximity scanner to see if there were any fighters inbound. Noticing that there wasn't any other ships on the scanner besides the _Hawk_ and the Sith vessel, she knew that something was wrong. If the ship was trying to destroy them, why hadn't they deployed any fighters, which would be the obvious advantage in space combat?

"They're not trying to destroy us, Revan. They're trying to divert us down to the planet. "

"What?"

"Don't you see? If they wanted to destroy us they would have already done so. They _want _us to go down to the planet." He looked at her strangely for a moment, and then the look subsided as he understood what she was saying. In his mind, the blocks all fell into place. Turning the ship towards the Sith stronghold, he gave the engines everything that they had, and the _Ebon Hawk _sped towards the planet faster than the turbolaser shots exploding around them could catch.

"I hope you're right about this, Bastila. Because I've got a very bad feeling about this."

"Yes, so do I."

* * *

><p><strong>Surface Of Malachor V<strong>

The very surface of Malachor would be freighting to anyone who had never been offplanet before in their lifetime. Looking upon the jagged edges of what seemed like an endless maze of mountains, Bastila could see and feel why this planet had been taboo to the Mandalorians. It _reeked_ of Dark Side energy, so much so that even beings that couldn't touch the Force would be able to sense it.

"Great, guess there's no-where to land. Why do they always pick such inaccessible areas?" Revan said, stopping the _Hawk _and letting it hover at a steady pace above the ground. Unbuckling his seatbelt, he stood up and began walking towards the back of the ship. Bastila following hot on his heels.

"T3, we've got a mission for you." He said as the astromech droid finished locking down any opened or damaged hatches.

"We need you to fly the ship around while we try to get into this 'academy' of theirs. Can you handle it?" T3 beeped an enthusiastic response and rolled off into the cockpit. Turning to face Bastila, he just looked at her, not speaking or thinking.

"I'm coming with you." She said, jumping the gun on him before he had the chance to speak.

"Bastila…" He started before she held up a hand, interrupting him.

"I'm coming with you. End of discussion." She responded, letting the hand fall back to her side. Revan began to retort, but failed to voice his argument. Sighing in frustration, he looked back at her.

"Query: May I blast her for upsetting you Master?"

"_NO_!" Both Revan and Bastila said in unison, causing the assassin droid to power itself down. Turning back to each other, the tension between them grew, both literally and figuratively .

"Revan, I've followed you this far. And if your path ends here, then mine will as well. I will follow you until the end_."_

"It won't come to that. I'll make _sure _of it."

As the loading ramp dropped down, the first thing that she noticed was the how cold the surface air was. It reminded her of how Manaan had been during the rainstorm. Except that this was…_different. _As if something was riding along on it, speaking through it. Feeling goose-bumps erupt down her back, she pulled her brown tunic a little closer around her body.

She could feel the tugging of the dark presence of the planet as it pulled at the back of her mind. Part of her wanted to give into it, to feel the power that she had once controlled. The power that Revan had refused to take control of again…

_No_. She thought, vanquishing the thoughts from her mind, once and forever more. _I am a Jedi. I draw my power from the light, I use it to vanquish the Dark. And I use it to protect myself and the one I love. The light is my life, my presence, my being._

_To follow the light is to walk a straight path, one that is narrow and filled with distractions. When you let yourself fall to these distractions, you fall off the path, and you fight to return to it, begging with every inch of your soul to be allowed to return to it. And many who see you fall will only see a person warped and twisted by the Dark Side. _

_You fall for what seems like forever, and you never hit the bottom until you kill the one you love. You try so hard to drag anyone else down with you, just to relieve the feeling of loneliness that you feel coursing through your entire emotion spectrum. You let it control you, let it make you into its puppet. And when you finally stop resisting, that's when it ends. You die and another is reborn inside your body. _

_I was lucky, in every sense of the word. I was saved, brought back from the point of complete darkness. I was saved by the love of my life. I was saved by the command of the light that he controls. And when I look back at where I was pulled back from, all I see is a being so powerful, so hungry, that it could twist even those who feel that they are so dedicated to their cause that they can't ever be turned. And that is where I see I was _wrong_._

"Ready?" Revan asked, looking at her with that familiar twinkle in his eye. Returning the glance, she smiled and gripped his hand tight.

"Ready." And with her answer, the two of them jumped.

* * *

><p><strong>Planet Core, Trayus Academy<strong>

"They are here." Sion said, kneeling before his master where she sat meditating in the planet's core. Traya was silent for a few moments, her eyes remaining shut into silent concentration.

"Yes, I am _aware_." She responded, ending her meditation with the simple task of opening her eyes. Around her, she could hear Malachor telling her that the Light was now walking upon its hallowed ground. The planet was reeling with their touch, and its ripples echoed increasingly through the Force.

"Shall I send the assassins?"

"No. Let them come, if they survive the surface, then the Academy shall destroy them." She said, hearing her apprentice walking back into the interior of the Academy, the sounds of his boots echoing throughout the core of Malachor. He was so sure that he would win, and Traya knew that it would end much differently than any of the scenarios that had played out in Sion's mind.

The moment was here. The moment where her former apprentice would face her, for the first time since he had left during the Mandalorian "Crusade". When he had come to see her one last time before leaving to slaughter the invading warriors that threatened 'his' galaxy. She remembered it vividly, how he had stood before her, dressed in his brown Jedi robes, his tunic wrapped around his face.

He had spoken to her of coming with him, that he would need those with wisdom. She, in return, had laughed at him, telling him that if he sought true wisdom, he should look inside himself for all of the answers, instead of constantly relying on others. That all answers to life's questions laid inside the minds of every being that were spread out throughout the galaxy. And he had looked at her, silently telling her that he vaguely understood what she had told him.

She had been exiled two years later, with the Council forcing the blame of Revan's 'fall' onto her shoulders. They had stripped her of her title, taken her lightsaber, and banished her from their Order. The same Order that she had spent years chained to, following their code and following their ever changing will. That had been when she had seen everything around her thrust into the light that exposed _exactly _what they were. _Empty and blind._

She had wandered the galaxy, stopping at planet after planet, trying to discover the deepest secrets of the Force. And that search had led her to Malachor. The planet where the remains of the last great battle of the Mandalorian Wars had taken place. Where her former apprentice had destroyed every trace of Mandalorian blood that lay in orbit around a planet that had always been considered taboo to any Mandalorian army. Mandalore himself had been _afraid_ to come here. Something had happened here, long ago, that had forever scarred the planet into their minds.

And now, the man who had destroyed almost all of that culture's fighting men had come to their place of death. To meet his own.

* * *

><p><strong>Alright, once again, a large apology for the long wait inbetween updates. I personally think that Bastila's monologue is one of my best writings so far. So, enjoy, and remember to R&amp;R!<strong>


	12. Seperation

**Chapter 12**

The ground of Malachor itself felt strange beneath her feet, as if the dirt and rock wasn't really there, merely a substitute for something that lay hidden and waiting beneath the surface. Bastila wondered if Revan felt it also, and a quick look inside his mind through the bond reassured her. This planet was literally the _definition _of darkness. Its pull was greater than anything she had felt on both Korriban and Rakata Prime. This had been a planet basked in death, and its ripples were nearly screaming through the Force.

"Stop." He said, stopping a few feet ahead of her. They had been traversing through the cave for more than an hour, and it seemed like they were no closer to their destination than they had been an hour ago. The dim lighting from the storms above continued to throw shadows on everything, and in those shadows was the dimmest tint of green, as if the core of the planet itself was somehow watching them.

"What is it?" Bastila responded, gripping the lightsaber hilt in her hand just a little tighter.

"We're close to something. It's like…." He stopped abruptly, his eyes scanning the ground around him. Lifting her brow curiously, she looked back at him as if he had completely lost his mind.

"Like what?"

"Bastila, stand back. If I'm right, we should be dropping down a couple feet." Was all the warning that Revan gave before he ignited his saber and began to cut a wide circle into the rock that lay beneath his feet. As he finished, the vibrations that erupted sporadically grew into a constant shake, and cracks began to snake through the ground around them. Looking back at Revan, her eyes were wide with shock.

"Bastila, quick, grab my hand!" He shouted just as the rock beneath them began to give way in the darkness below them. Jumping with all the strength her legs could give her, Bastila grabbed Revan's out-stretched hand. As the two of them began to fall into the same darkness that had begun to engulf the rocks, she closed her eyes, fearing what would come next. The sound of crumbling stone was all the filled her ears.

Minutes passed, and she could still feel her heart beating. As she slowly opened her eyes, she found that Revan's hunch had been right. They were standing inside what appeared to be an ancient structure, its wall covered with a sinster red light that originated from the pyramid like lights on the walls.

"I think we found out where our friends are hiding." Revan said, the thin line of sarcasm cycling through his voice at a furious pace. Letting go of his hand, Bastila shook some of the dust off of her robes before she began to full observe their new surroundings.

"You do have your moments."

* * *

><p>The sinister halls of the academy seemed to stretch on forever, the foul stench of death confronting them at every turn. Every now and then they would pass a body that had been gutted with a lightsaber, the bodies' eyes frozen in shock and agony. Bastila tried to bury the image in the back of her mind, and yet, she found it floating back to her immediate thoughts at every second. She had seen enough death to last two life-times, but still, she pressed on.<p>

The entire place was utterly abandonded, with not even the faint whisper of any wildlife there to take the Sith's place. Whatever dark forces had been here for the past years, they had obviously reigned with a iron-fisted rule of fear. Anyone who had come here by choice must have been mad or desperate for power. Or both. But in the end, they had been devoured by it, until all that remained was an empty academy, the knowledge of the Sith contained by nothing more than shadows.

"Bastila, watch out!" She heard Revan call, although by the time the message reached her ears, the red glare of a force field had appeared in the door way between the two of them. On the other side, Revan looked around the wall for any kind of switch. Finding none, he cursed quietly under his breath. _For once, could_ something _go right?_

"What do we do?" Bastila asked, the sense of an unknown path stretching out in the forefront of her thoughts.

"Looks like we're gonna have to split up. I'll try to find a way around the force field. You got ahead and see if you can find any kind of access console." As he finished his sentence he turned and ran through the closest door. As it slammed shut behind him, Bastila send him a quick "Good luck" through the bond, and took a few steps towards the closest door.

* * *

><p>The silence of the apparently endless hallways were beginning to wear down on Revan's mind as he continued on his way towards what he hoped would bring him back to Bastila. He knew now that the academy wasn't as abandonded as they had hoped. How else would a force field drop down at the exact moment after Bastila had walked over it, effectively seperating them?<p>

"Hello Revan." The voice said, it's familiar tone afflicted by an aura of darkness. Turning to meet the voice's owner, Revan nearly dropped his saber at the very sight of her. Standing before him, was Bastila, her familiar silver eyes now replaced by a sickly yellow, and her usual attire of Jedi robes replaced by the all too familiar pitch-black robes of the Sith, the same attire that she had been wearing during that fateful moment atop of the Rakatan temple.

"Bastila? What…_How_?" He voiced, the disbelief in his sentence growing increasingly. The woman in front of him _couldn't_ be Bastila, and yet, despite all requests that his body made to strike her down, his mind refused. He couldn't have brought himself to do it atop of the Temple, and he couldn't do it now.

"All foolish questions, and ones which you know the answer to." Her voice didn't sound anything like her anymore, it had grown into more like something a Sith Lord would say. Looking at her reminded him of how she had looked on the Star Forge, only an hour after she had refused to come back to the Light, and only minutes before he had faced Darth Malak.

"You're not Bastila."

"_Oh_, how so? Is it that my command of the Force is _greater_, that I've grown _stronger_, or that I'm much more _aggressive_ than her?" She openly mocked him, that tone still swirling around Revan's mind. He had drawn his saber, his thumb hovering just inches from the activation button, and yet, he…he _couldn't_ do it.

"Oh come now, _poor_ Revan. I'm everything that you truly want."

"And what is it exactly that I want?"

"_Power_. Enough power to quench that taste that still lingers in your heart and your soul. You can hear the planet call to you at this very moment. _Embrace it_." Inside him, Revan knew that some of what she had said had been right. Part of him craved the power of the Dark, and fought desperately to overtake his mind.

"No."

"No? _Tsk, tsk_, _wrong_ answer. Can't have you giving me answers that aren't true." She replied, raising her hand and unleashing a wild blast of Force lightning at him. His body's response wasn't quick enough, and as the blue lightning hit his body at full force, he flew back into the walls behind him, his body ablaze with mountains of pain.

"Now, _your answer_." She asked again, her saber gripped in her hands and her mind undoubtedly willing to cut him down.

"No."

"Wrong again." She said, sighing in the process. Again she raised her hand and blasted him with the lightning. His body felt like it was on fire, his mind screaming for him to just give in, to make it stop. But he didn't, and he laid there and felt his body burning. Finally, she lowered her hand and the feeling subsided. He could smell burning flesh, and knew that it was coming from his own body.

"ENOUGH." Another voice said, one that seemed strangely familar. Turning back to face Bastila's double-ganger, he found himself staring at an empty room. And yet, she still lingered on his thoughts. That hadn't been the real her, he knew that, and still he couldn't help but feel the sharp pain of betrayal inside his heart. Gathering himself up from the floor, Revan turned and walked through the door, intent on finishing this.

* * *

><p>The rest of the academy had been designed exactly like the other parts that she had seen. The feeling at the back of her mind had not yet ceased, and she could feel the uneasiness growing inside her. Whatever presence lurked here, it was nothing more than pure <em>evil. <em>And with Revan no longer with her, running into a group of assassins would be even more deadly, even with her Jedi training and the various techniques that Revan had showed her.

Every now and then, footsteps were erupt behind her, but when she turned to face them, her lightsaber ignited, there would be nothing. If she had been from one of the Core worlds, her explanation would have been ghosts. She chucked briefly at the thought, and continued onward, her lightsaber remaining tightly gripped in her hand as she deactivated it.

"And I get the impartial one." The voice crept into her ears with startling fluency. It reminded her of Malak, in a way. How their voices had been filled with confidence and self-flattery, all the while being threaded together with darkness. Turning her body around with the speed of a full-blooded Cathar, she found her eyes being met with a true form of demon. His body was filled with various cracks and the occasional patch of rotting flesh, leading up to his right eye, which contained no pupil.

"I could make it quick. But after all the trouble you've caused us, that would be the unfair reaction." Sion said, filling the air between himself and Bastila with an aura of Dark Side energy. He laughed aloud as Bastila ignited her yellow saber and held it in a defensive position in front of her. She was afraid, and he could sense it, he _fed_ off it, made him stronger.

"Do you really hope to defeat me? I cannot be killed, not in this place." He continued, his own saber snapping to life in his hand. "My master is right. Out of the two of you, you are the one filled with a confusion that stretches through the Force. What he sees in you, why he did not fully embrace the power of the Dark Side, I wish to know. If it was for you, he is indeed foolish. Foolish, blind, and in _love." _

The words struck her much like a blaster bolt hitting her square in the chest. Somehow, the apprentice's master knew more about Revan that most in the galaxy did. _How is this even possible?_

"Revan _chose _not to embrace the Dark Side. He saw that those enslaved to the Dark Side only die long and meaningless deaths. It turns you into a puppet, makes you-"

"Spare me your words of propaganda, _Jedi_. Your time of death is at hand, and you should be prepared for it." Sion interrupted, moving his blade so that the red color illuminated the individual cracks in his face. The entire image would have unsettled even the most experienced Jedi Master. "And now, your time is at an end."

His attack came quickly, the swiftness of it catching Bastila off-guard. As his blade came swirling around towards Bastila's arm, she rolled down to the floor, the saber missing her by mere inches. As she returned to her feet, Bastila swung her own saber out, hoping to catch her attacker off-balance. The yellow saber met with its blood red cousin in a brilliant flash of sparks and light. The strength coming from the Sith Lord's blade was incredible, and Bastila could barely hold the blade off.

"You fight like a _child_. A blind, ignorant _child_ with a lightsaber." Sion said, visibly gritting his teeth as he spoke. He was trying to un-nerve her, make her lose her concentration. He half-succeeded, but she quickly regained her concentration and pushed her attacker back. Jumping away as he tried to unleash a wave of Force Lightning on her, Bastila could feel the heat coming off of it as the blast passed her by. Looking back at Sion, she brought her saber up to deflect another blow.

In the back of her mind, Revan's presence still lingered, she could feel the warmth emerging from it. Jumping back as Sion attacked with his saber spinning in front of him. The scene seemed eerily familiar, and she briefly remembered the battle on Revan's flagship, almost a year ago now. Burying the memory once again, Bastila forced herself to focus on the battle.

She was exhausted now, and sweat dripped down her forehead as she tried once again to hit Sion. As her blade was blocked, Sion let loose with his other arm, his hand curled into a fist, and as Bastila was sent spiraling to the ground, she could blurrily see him standing above her, his saber ignited in one hand, and the other clenched into a fist.

"Your battle is over child, throw down your saber and I'll make your death _quick_." Seeing her saber behind Sion, Bastila extended her palm and the hilt came flying back, igniting in mid-air and almost severing Sion's right leg. As he let out a small groan at the pain, he looked back to see Bastila getting back onto her feet.

"Perhaps you're not as weak as I thought."

"You'll find I'm full of surprises" Bastila replied, before she attacked again, her yellow saber attacking again and again, the strength in it completely relentless. Sion was taken aback, and his stance quickly changed into that of a defensive one, a position with which he was barely familiar with. The battle was quickly changing hands, and the odds were turning out of his favor.


	13. The Past Revealed

**Alright, this one is bit shorter, but the final few (and upcoming) chapters will be gradually longer. So, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own KOTOR or Star Wars. They belong to George Lucas and Lucasarts.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 13<strong>

There was a small sense of familiarity in his mind as Revan walked through the deserted halls of the academy. It was almost as if he knew exactly where he needed to go, as if he had walked the same deserted halls years ago, when he had been completely enveloped in the Dark Side's thrall. Had he come here during the time after the Mandalorian Wars had ended? Or even before? So many questions, but yet there were so little answers.

"_Come" _The word echoed out from behind one of the doors off to his side. He searched for the source of the sound, wanting to be absolutely certain before he took any action that might lead to him becoming trapped by Sith assassins. That wouldn't be of any help to himself or Bastila.

"Well, here goes nothing." Revan said, as he hit the open switch beside the door. As it silently opened before him, there was nothing beyond except darkness. A small joke entered his head as he stepped into the dim lighting, unable to see his hand in front of his face. And yet, he knew exactly where to step, the familiarity of the place seeping into his brain once again.

"_So close…" _The voice said again, filling his senses with its sound. Up ahead he could see faint lights, a dim sign of life. He approached it, the lightsaber on his belt remaining in its usual spot. He could sense no threat, but he knew that the situation could change within moments, so kept his right hand near the saber.

The planet core glowed below the walkway, the green gases slowly being lifted up and into the air around the center of the academy. As Revan stepped out of the darkness, he could see a faint black figure standing in the center of all this chaos. Standing there, _waiting. _Waiting for _him._

"Greetings, Revan. It has been a long time." She said, turning towards him as he approached the Core. Her eyes were hidden beneath her hood, and for a split second, Revan wondered what was under there, watching him.

"That look on your face, you seem to fail at remembering something….Ah, your memories. That is what troubles you. You can see the familiarity of the halls of which you have walked, but you cannot fully remember what you did or why you came here."

"How do you know?" Revan asked, a small flicker of shock running through his voice.

"There are many things that I know of you. As a mother knows her child, as a tree knows its roots, and as a Master knows her Apprentice." Traya replied, as her voice echoed throughout the core. "You were my crowning achievement, my greatest legacy, and in turn, my greatest failure."

"You left to kill, to utterly destroy the Mandalorians, and you left all that had come before behind. When you returned to the galaxy, 'evil', as you were seen in the Council's eyes, they were quick to search for someone to blame. And the brunt of that blame fell upon my shoulders. And in turn, I was cast out. Exiled. Betrayed by a Council that I had trusted for years. The irony was not lost on me."

"So you were exiled because I fell?" Revan inquired, now standing a few feet in front of her. The darkness surrounding her presence was great, and he felt like he could be drowned by it. This woman had at one time been his master, and yet, here she stood, bathed in the dark side. To say it was slightly un-nerving would be an understatement.

"Fell? No. _Opened your eyes_, yes. You see, the Jedi would have everyone believe in their simple, deluded view of the galaxy. Black and white, light side, dark side. All faces and names for a single thing. When you embraced the Dark, you became whole. And when your memories were ripped from your body, your entire soul was chained to the Light Side once again. You were deafened, blinded, and defeated. All in a single blow." Traya replied once again, the sarcastic pity in her voice shining through like a light in the darkness.

"All that I've seen of the Dark Side proves you're wrong. Suffering, pain, blood, the Dark Side _reeks_ of it."

"Perhaps. You speak in the same tone as your lover."

"Bastila?"

"Ah yes, the impartial one. She is much like me in respects. She had served both 'sides' of the Force, and has been betrayed by both." Reaching into the back of his mind, Revan searched for the bond. He could feel it, as if it was on the tips of his fingers. And then he could feel it slip away. Where-ever Bastila was, he couldn't feel her presence. Something had gone wrong.

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><p>"You're only prolonging your death by hiding." Sion taunted, his activated saber illuminating the entire room in a sinister red tone. As the light hit the area around her, Bastila could feel her heart beating in her ears. Her shoulders were beginning to ache as she pushed herself further into the area between the box and the wall. She had blocked any out-going Force presences, including the bond with Revan.<p>

"My master was all wrong with her approach. She should have simply killed you. The pain would have been enough to drive him mad. His grief would have turned him. And once he had fallen, he would never be the same." Bastila remained silent, trying desperately to not even breathe. Sion was far stronger than her, and already she was exhausted. Moments before she had had Sion on the defensive. Quickly however, the odds had turned against her. And now she found herself hiding, the burn marks on her arms already becoming inflamed with pain. The enemy she now faced wasn't a man, it was a _monster._

"I've heard much about your fall. How easy it was to turn you." Sion continued, the smell of decaying flesh reaching Bastila's nostrils. She felt like gagging.

"Malak himself was foolish. He had the infinate power of the Star Forge at his fingertips, and he refused to fully give himself into it. Instead, he focused his attention on someone so insignificant as you." Suddenly the box at her side exploded with a shower of sparks and debris. Above her, Sion stood with his saber ignited and his one good eye glaring down at her.

"I grow tired of this. Now your death will be the single thing that the galaxy fears. Long and painful." He said, his saber already beginning its long swing down towards her. She rolled out of the way just before the blood red blade was about to come down upon her head. As sparks flew from the wall, Bastila ignited her own blade, and the two began the battle again. The two blades crisscrossed in their dance of fates, with the two colors, yellow and red, striking again and again. It was unclear as to which side would win. All that either of them could see was that only one of them was walking away from this fight.

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><p>"What have you done with her?" Revan asked, his hand immediately flying to his Jedi weapon. In front of him, Traya grinned. She had been hoping that his actions would be quick and rash, with hardly any thought put into them. So far, her plan had worked according to plan. Her former student was almost fully in her grasp.<p>

"I have done nothing. The Lord of Pain, that's a different matter. I imagine that right about now, he's ripping out her insides." At that moment, Revan ignited his saber and charged at her in one swift motion. Already anticipating his movements, Traya drew her own blade and its purple blade made contact against Revan's blue. Revan pulled back, and then tried another attack, which Traya saw instantly, and swiftly moved to block it. Again and again, the pattern repeated itself, until it was clear that no-one was ahead in this fight.

As Revan drew back his saber for another swing, Traya raised her hand and unleashed a deadly blast of lightning towards him. Seeing it just as it was too late to avoid, Revan kept a firm grip on his lightsaber as he flew back, finally making contact with one of the pillars that surrounded the core. Through his slightly blurred vision, he could see Traya gripping her lightsaber, but now slowly walking towards him. Someone else had joined her in the few moments that he had been a victim to the lightning.

"Ah, how the mighty have fallen. It is such a sad thing to fall, isn't it Lord Nihilus?" She said, turning her head towards the black robed figure that now stood at her side. Again, the figure seemed familiar to Revan in some-way, although the figure's face was hidden behind a white and red mask.

The figure's response was unintelligible, the words themselves sounding like some ancient language, one that even he had trouble understanding. As she looked down at her former student, Traya's face once again broke out into a twisted smile.

"Ah, to be so young, to have experienced so much, and to have learned_ nothing_. That is your failure." Traya taunted him, the smile still plastered across her face. Her lightsaber remained activated in her hand, although she made no move to attack him, even though the opportunity was perfect.

"And yours is refusing to talk in a non-cryptic way." Revan sarcastically replied, his body still wracked with pain. It had been luck alone by which he hadn't gone soaring into the core of the planet.

"Ah, that _arrogance_, it brings back memories of how you used to be during your early years. Always so full of sarcasm, but at the same time so full of comitment. You were always a wonder to behold. But now here you are, nothing more than a crippled failure of the Jedi."

"Just wait till I get back up, then I'll show you a 'failure of the Jedi'." Revan replied, struggling to return to his feet. He had slammed into the pillar with a moderate amount of force, and the pain that flowed through his body was rightly there. Somewhere, Bastila was battling with a Sith Lord, and she needed his help.

"Look, Lord Nihilus, his thoughts are not even on the task that he now has on hand. Such shoddy training." Traya mocked, stepping back as Revan returned to his feet with lightsaber in hand. To Traya's side, Nihilus grabbed his own saber and ignited it's red blade. He said nothing in response to his Master, but he held his lightsaber at the ready, preparing himself to be the one to kill Darth Revan.

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><p>Again the two blades crashed together with a violent explosion of sparks and light, the saber-lock itself being the sole focus of the room. Throughout it, various pillars and wall lay strewn with marks and gouges that only a lightsaber could make. Jumping back, Bastila knew that she couldn't keep this up forever. Even with the strength coming from the bond, Sion was still too powerful.<p>

"You know you can't keep this up forever. You're growing weaker every minute that this duel continues." Sion said, stepping back to better watch his prey. She was strong, he would give her that. But she was not powerful enough to stop the full power of the Dark Side, especially in a place such as this.

"You're forgetting one thing, Sith Lord." Bastila responded, sweat coursing down her forehead and down her brow, her breathing also heavy. "I'll always be better looking than you."

There was no laugh or acknowledgment in return, only the sound of a lightsaber slicing through the air. Bastila ducked, and quickly tried to parry the move. No luck. Rolling under another assault, she knew that he was right about one thing. She couldn't keep this up much longer. Throwing out her hand, she watched as the Sith Lord was thrown across the room, finally meeting an opposing wall. Not giving her opponent a moment to recover, Bastila brought down a section of the roof. As the rubble rolled down from the ceiling, she turned away in order to not be met with any stray piece of wreckage. As the dust cleared, she could see nor hear any movement coming from the pile. She had won, but Revan was still somewhere in the Academy. Alone. And in danger.


	14. The End Of It All

**Chapter 14**

"I can either cut you down, or you can get out of my way. Either way, I'm going through." Revan said, igniting his blue blade in order to reinforce the point. In front of him, Nihilus didn't move, giving a small phrase in his ancient language, and raised his blade to attack. Revan easily blocked the attack, and the two of them 'danced' across the planet Core, their blades illuminating their faces almost as well as the sparks that flew every-time their blades connected. He had been well trained, Revan could see that in the way that he attacked, the force that he gave each and every step.

"Getting tired?" Revan asked , trying to distract him and make him create an opening in his attack pattern. The tactic failed to work, and Nihilus pressed on with his attack. With his back pressed against one of the pillar's, Revan ducked and worked his way around the Sith Lord, and seized the first opportunity that presented itself. As Nihilus cried out in pain, the slash across his back becoming instantly spewing blood into the air, and then stopping as soon as it began, he turned back towards Revan, a sense of rage spewing out of him.

_Great. Wrong move Revan. _He thought to himself, as he raised his saber to block an attempted slash at his chest. Nihilus was attacking him in full force now, his full strength flowing through his body completely unrestrained. Off to their side, Traya watched with a silent sense of glee. She was enjoying each and every moment of this.

Ducking underneath another slash, Revan kicked out at his opponent's knee, and as he watched the black figure go down, he pushed it away, and as the body tumbled over the side of the walkway, his hand shot up and grabbed at whatever would give him a strong enough grip that would allow him to pull himself up. Walking forward, Revan looked down to see the Sith Lord looking back up at him, utterly silent in his plight. He was willing to die for Traya, and it shown in his eyes.

"Good Revan, strike him down, let him fall down into the core of this planet. And then, your eyes shall be open once again." Traya said, taking a step forward towards the two of them. Looking down at Nihilus again, Revan threw his lightsaber in Traya's direction.

"No." Was all he offered before he reached out with the Force, and made the Sith Lord flew through the air until his body made contact with one of the doors leading to the academy. As the man collapsed onto the cold rock, Traya was silent as she looked at Revan. Her plan had failed, but now, it would work out for her anyway.

"So be it, _fool. _Then you shall have the death you seek." She said, raising her hands to unleash another blast of lighting. As the blue force began to circle around her hands, Revan saw another figure rapidly approaching the Core. A sudden burst through the Bond, and he knew that it was Bastila. Her robes were tattered and torn, but she was still alive. She was almost to the center of the room now, her body covered in sweat.

"Ah, and the impartial one finally joins us." Traya offered, the first crackles of lightning beginning to form along her fingertips. Revan's attention was still on Bastila, and as she neared where both her and Traya were, he sent her a simple message of _"I love you" _through the bond, he watched as she looked at him, and as he looked deeply into her silver eyes, Revan himself smiled.

And then, giving her a fake salute, his body fell backwards into the core of the planet just as the lightning from Traya's hand flew overhead.

"REVAN!" Bastila screamed, as she ran to where he had been standing just moments before. Looking over the edge, she saw nothing but the green glow of the Core below. Hot tears stung at the edges of her eyes, all parts of her mind trying to deny what had just happened. _He…he just jumped. _Willingly.

"Such a waste of potential." Traya said behind her, looking over her with a pitying look. Ignoring her, Bastila reached out through the bond, and felt…_nothing_. Nothing but an apathetic. Her tears were flowing freely now, and she wiped her eyes with the back of her robes. _This isn't happening, this isn't happening, this isn't happening, this isn't happening..._

"And now, there is nowhere else to go, young Bastila. Except back to the darkness." Traya continued, remaining motionless in the same spot that she had been before. "You can hear it call to you. And you _want _it, your soul yearns for it, I can _sense_ it." Turning to face her, Bastila could feel the voices swirling around, begging her to give in and attack Traya, to make her pay for what she had to have done to Revan. And yet, as her hand floated down to her lightsaber, she stopped. She couldn't, she _wouldn't _go back to the darkness.

As she stood there, she was faced with the choice of facing the Sith Lady before her, or running back to the _Ebon Hawk _and escaping from anything connected to this or the Jedi. As her mind chose the latter, she ran past Traya and towards one of the exits that surrounded the Core. With Traya watching her as she went, she could hear Sion limping to her side. She looked him over, disgusted at how he had lost to a mere Jedi with hardly any proper training.

Still, Revan was dead, and if she couldn't have him, she would have the closest thing to him. _Bastila._

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><p><strong>Two Days Later<strong>

The cave remained as silent as it had been for the past hours, with the only thing giving her comfort being that of the crackling fire in front of her. Her knees curled up in front of her, Bastila closed her eyes, trying so desperatly to concentrate, to just be able to forget everything for just one second. And yet, with each passing second, she felt more and more like her sanity was gradually slipping away. All around her, the planet continued to speak to her, whispering in her ears, begging her to give into the darkness yet again.

Outside, the rain continued to pour down, the thunder in the sky even more threatening now than it had been when they had first come here. The wind was starting to pick up, and as it blew into the cave, it sent a shiver down her spine, causing her to pull the tunic tighter around her entire body as she moved closer to the fire. Almost instantly, her body began to feel 'better' as the warmth from the fire flowed over her.

As she stared into the heart of the orange/red flame, she absent-mindely began to fiddle with the necklace around her neck. She felt the hard stone that the piece of jewelry was made out of, the somewhat harsh material feeling strange against her fingers. Revan had gotten the small trinket for her on Tatooine, after she had first delt with her mother. He claimed that he had gotten it from one of the local Jawas, after he had rescued some of their clan from the Tusken Enclave on the far outskirts of Anchorhead.

Closing her eyes, once again, she could see the memory unfolding once again in her mind.

_The hull of the Ebon Hawk was anything but silent, but as the door slammed shut behind her, she felt relieved to find at least one place on the ship that was empty. Being surrounded by people was the last thing she wanted right now. Her mind was ablaze with thoughts, memories, emotions, it was nearly unbearable. She just needed to meditate, and to try and find some amount of calm in the storm she now found herself in. Reaching out with the Force, she manipulated the door, locking it in one swift motion. _

_"Alright, concentrate." She thought to herself, taking a deep breath, and letting her mind focus on trying to once again be calm. Slowly, her thoughts began to drift, until finally her mind was completely empty save for that single emotion. She remained like this for a few minutes, until she felt the small tugging sensation of Revan trying to communicate with her through the bond. Almost immediately, her mind was once again thrown back into the 'storm' that it had been in before._

What? _She asked, opening her eyes and taking another deep breath. _

Hey, open the door. I've got something for you. _He replied, giving a small knock on the door to show his point. Getting back onto her feet, Bastila reached and unlocked the door via the panel on the wall. As the metal slid out, it revealed Revan standing out in the hall. In his hand, there was small necklace with a center piece made out of some sort of stone. Looking at it for a moment, Bastila looked up at him._

_"What's this?" She asked, extending out her palm as Revan dropped it into her hand. Feeling her fingertips over the stone, it felt harsh but still somewhat polished. Leaning again the hull, Revan watched her as she examined the trinket. _

_"A necklace, isn't it obvious? I got it from the local Jawa chieftain. I thought you'd might like it."_

_"That's not the only reason." She observed, staring back at him as she continued to feel the necklace with her fingers._

_"I...I thought you could use something to cheer you up after what happened with your mother."_

In a single instant, her thoughts were thrust forward to the present time as the sound of blaster fire began to echo into the cave from outside. Rapidly jumping back onto her feet, Bastila nearly ran to the entrance to the cave, and as she scanned the skies, the _Ebon Hawk _flew past, its turbolasers firing at a small array of Sith Fighters. Watching the scene for just a second more, she pulled the hood of her tunic over her head and headed outside.

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><p>The wind whipped around her body and her hair, reminding her of how the surface of Korriban had been only a few months ago. More tears fell from her eyes, and she let them continue. Around her, the landscape of Malachor stood utterly silent. She knew what had occurred here, what Revan had ordered to be done. And yet, she couldn't find any reason to hate him for what he had done. She had never been able to do that. And now, he was gone. Dead, swallowed up by the Core of Malachor V.<p>

_Damn it Revan, why? You should be here, to tell me why._ She thought to herself, pulling her tunic a little tighter around her body. T3 hadn't responded when she had activated the comlink, and she wondered if the Sith had captured the ship after all. If so, then she was truly stranded here. With the Sith searching for her. She had seen no signs that she was being followed, and yet, she knew that the situation had to be the opposite. They were hunting her, and she knew that the Sith Lords inside the Academy would want her back, dead or alive.

"_Bastila" _She heard him call out her name, and she wiped her body around, believing just for a moment in a false hope. As she scanned her eyes over the barren landscape, she felt her heart drop into her stomach. It had to have been his voice, she knew it by heart. And yet…

"_Run" _The voice said again, before a Force Pike landed into the ground beside her, looking up, she saw at least five assassins gathered around on a ledge above her. Remembering what the voice had said, she ran, using her elevated senses to dodge the on-coming Force Pikes. Ducking inside the battered remains of a Republic cruiser, she took her lightsaber into her hand, and ignited it. If they wanted a fight, then that's what they would bloody well get.

"Ah, such ignorance. To fight a battle that you cannot win." She heard a familiar voice behind say, and as she turned around, her body was quickly pinned to the wall of the cruiser by Sion, as Traya looked on with a smug look of satisfaction on her face. Beneath Sion's hand, she could hardly breathe, and she tried desperately to dislodge his grip on her. In return, he only strengthened his grip, which began to force out any amount of air left in her lungs.

"_If you're going to kill me….then…just get it over with_!" She managed to say between gasps for air, her lightsaber laying on the ground at Sion's feet. Off to her side, Traya laughed at her display.

"Ah, but then, you have learned _nothing_. It is such an easy thing to kill. To wound, not physically, but mentally and emotionally, that is the true form of pain and revenge. Of betrayal. Why kill an enemy when you can twist their mind so much that they forget who or what they once stood for?"

"Do what you want, I've already lost what I've loved. Pain is all I have left now." Bastila responded, her voice more audible now that Traya had mentally told Sion to loosen his grip.

"Ah, and now you are learning. You see, there must always be a Darth Traya. One who knows what it is like to love, to trust, and to fully give into another. A keeper of the knowledge of both the light and the dark."

"What do you know of the Light? Your presence is as black as his soul." Bastila beckoned to Sion.

"I was once as much of a blind believer in the Light Side as you once were, mere months ago."

"What happened?"

"What always happens to those strong in the Force. I strived for knowledge, I _hungered _for it. When there was nothing left to learn of the Light, I turned to the teachings of the Dark. And in them, I saw that both sides had their own fools. Each side would have believed that the other was weak. In reality, there are both pieces of a puzzle far greater than anyone could ever hope to put together." In front of Bastila, Sion tightened his grip only a little, still allowing her to breathe and speak, but not enough to squirm her way out of his grasp.

"So tell me, which shall it be? The easy path, where you can join your beloved in the Force, or the one that will lead you to a far greater destiny."

"She chooses neither." Another voice said, with all eyes turning towards it. As Sion turned his own head around, he never saw the blue blade coming down on his arm until it was too late. As the dismembered limb fell to the ground, Sion stumbled back, covering his wound with his remaining hand. Bastila dropped to the ground, and grabbed her lightsaber up from the ground. She ignited it, ready to meet whoever the new opponent was. When she saw his face, she nearly dropped the blade.

Standing before her, was Revan, his robe tattered, torn, and all but destroyed, and his lightsaber raised into a defensive position.

"_Revan?" _She asked with disbelief through the bond, wanting to know that it was really him. Malachor could have easily turned on anyone on the planet, and this could be no different.

"_It's alright. Get behind me." _He responded, taking a step towards Traya. Sion was still kneeling on the floor, by now his voice consisted of nothing more than varying forms of shouts and cries of pain. At the entrance to the Cruiser, the wind whipped around even faster, as the _Ebon Hawk _hovered steadily above the ground, it's landing ramp extended. Turning back to the scene unfolding before her, Bastila watched as Revan held the blade above his former master, the blue light poised to strike a hole through the darkness that surrounded Traya. And yet, the blade remained in the air. Motionless. Traya smiled.

"Ah, you lack the strength to do what your mind so desires. Your training prohibits it. Your Jedi way has ruined your perfect chance to end the 'threat' that you now face." Revan didn't respond as he deactivated his saber, and turned back towards the entrance where Bastila now stood. Behind him, Traya stood unmoving, her hood pulled deep over her eyes. She most likely never saw Revan's hand raised until the punch of the Force pushed into the stone wall that surrounded her. As she collapsed into the ground, Sion looked at her, and attempted to muster enough strength to walk over to her. He failed, and collapsed onto the ground beside her.

"Let's go." Revan said, with Bastila looking at him with a speechless feeling overtaking her. Within the blink of an eye, her hand had connected with his face, his cheek instantly turning red.

"YOU BASTARD! HOW COULD YOU PUT ME THROUGH THAT?" She screamed at him, with Revan remaining silent for the moment, not knowing the words to say to her. She brought her arm around for another swing, but Revan grasped it in his arm, gently but firm. Looking up at him, Bastila could feel more tears beginning to stream down her face. Revan had died, and yet, here he stood. Alive as she was. She began to cry even harder, the sound of a few sobs escaping from her lips.

"_How could you_?" She repeated a few times before she began to sob into his chest. Wrapping his arm around her, Revan held her, whispering that everything was alright now. With T3 beeping through the comlink, the two of them walked towards the _Hawk's _loading ramp, utterly silent except for Bastila's slowing sops. With them inside the safety of the ship's hull, T3 piloted the ship into the atmosphere, and within minutes, Malachor became a distant star line as the _Ebon Hawk_ entered hyperspace.

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><p><strong>Alright there ya go. All that remains to be posted is the epilogue. <strong>


	15. Epilogue

**Well, here we are. The last chapter of this fanfic. I personally want to thank everyone who's reviewed and stuck with me on this, it really means alot. This is, in real life, the first ever Star Wars fanfiction that I've completed. Hell, its the first fanfic that I've completed _period_. So, once again, thanks to all of you! :) And may the Force be with you!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own KOTOR or Star Wars. They belong to George Lucas**

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><p><strong>Epilogue<strong>

**Dantooine System**

**A Few Weeks Later**

The knee high prairie grass whipped around their feet as both Revan and Bastila walked at a calm pace through the brush. Above them, the sky was virtually cloudless and the setting sun shone down upon their bodies. Revan's wounds had healed quickly, and he had quickly come back around to his usual self. He had explained to her exactly what had happened after he had fallen into the Core, which in itself was strange, even with everything that they had seen over the past few months.

After he had fallen off towards the core, he had managed to fish out a small grappling hook that he had on his belt, and had just barely managed to hook it into part of the stone that supported the center of the academy itself. From there, he had managed to find a small system of tunnels that had laid scattered throughout the entire surface of the planet, fighting off huge numbers of the 'local wildlife' before finding an exit that led to the surface of the planet. Based on the equipment had found down there, scattered and abandoned, the place had been a partial bombshelter for the former inhabitants of the planet, before it had been taken over by the Sith.

The two of them came to a stop on one of the bridges that spanned over a small stream near a waterfall. They had come across the spot once before, before their journey to the Star Forge had begun. Everything seemed as peaceful now as it had been then. As the two of them watched the sun set over the distant horizon, Revan took Bastila's hand into his. Her eyes were sparkling as the sun's glare stretched across her face. The two of them kissed passionately, not caring if any wandering souls came upon them. After everything they had been through, they deserved a simple moment to themselves.

"Something wrong?" Bastila asked as Revan pulled back, leaving her standing in front of him with her arms wrapped around the back of his neck. He was silent for a moment, before he turned his head to the setting sun. In the distance, the sounds of the wild Kath hounds echoed across the otherwise deserted and windy plains.

"So much has happened in the past year, so many events, so many friends made and lost, lives saved and lost, it's enough to make my head swirl." He said finally, his head remaining on the horizon. Bastila herself turned and looked in the same direction. "Through it all though, you've been there, seen the things I've seen, struggled as I've struggled, felt what I've felt. Hell, we saved the galaxy together."

As Revan turned back to face her, their eyes met once again. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small box. Giving him a questioning look, Bastila otherwise remained silent as she waited for Revan to continue with what he had to say. Glancing down at her, he smiled.

"I've thought long and hard about this. And I've made up my mind. Bastila, I want to spend the rest of my life with you." He continued, dropping down to his knee. As he opened the box, a Corellian proposal ring sparkled in the sun's rays. Covering her mouth with her hand, Bastila looked down at the ring with a look of surprise and shock upon her face.

"Bastila, will you marry me?" He asked her, as she took the ring and looked it over before sliding it onto her finger. Admiring it for just a second more, she looked back at Revan with a smile and threw herself into his arms. As the two of them fell back onto the stone path of the bridge, they looked at each other, laughing with joy.

"Yes. Revan, I accept your ring." Bastila responded, kissing him for a few minutes before pulling away. She looked at him for a moment, a look of a pure happiness on her face. "And _I _have something to tell you."

"What is it?"

"Revan" She said, taking a deep breathe "I'm pregnant." And as the sun set in the distance, the two of them embraced in another passionate kiss, the entire galaxy ahead of them. As long as they were together, they could do anything.


End file.
